A Pumping Heart Coupled To Lumped Description Of The Cardiovascular Compartments (CARDIOSIM©)

CARDIOSIM© is a software simulator (developed at the Institute of Clinical Physiology C.N.R.) of the human cardiovascular system. This numerical simulator reproduces the most important circulatory phenomena, in terms of pressure and volume relationships. CARDIOSIM© has a modular structure that consists of different general sections: the left and right heart, the systemic arterial (pulmonary) section, the systemic (pulmonary) venous section and the coronary section. This software is able to represent the entire circulation using a lumped parameters model. It permits, on the basis of the Starling's law of the heart, by a variable elastance model, the simulation of the most important circulatory phenomena. The software models also some mechanical circulatory support system (MCSS) such as: left ventricular assist device (LVAD) producing a pulsatile flow (pneumatic ventricle) and continuous flow (rotary blood pump), right ventricular assist device (RVAD) producing a pulsatile flow (pneumatic ventricle) and continuous flow (rotary blood pump), bi-ventricular assist device (BVAD) producing a pulsatile flow (pneumatic ventricles) and continuous flow (rotary blood pumps), total artificial heart (TAH) producing a pulsatile flow (pneumatic ventricles), intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP) Changing the mean intrathoracic pressure it is possible to simulate the effects of a mechanical ventilatory (MV) assistance.