A Durability Study of a Paracorporeal Pulsatile Electro‐Mechanical Pneumatic Biventricular Assist Device

Abstract

In 2002, the paracorporeal pulsatile electro-mechanical pneumatic ventricular assist device (VAD) began to be developed by the Korea Artificial Organ Center at Korea University under a Health & Medical Technology Research and Development program which finished in 2008. In vitro durability testing was conducted on the paracorporeal pulsatile pneumatic VAD to determine device durability and to evaluate device failures. The 1- and 2-year reliability of the paracorporeal pulsatile pneumatic VAD was shown to be 91.2% and 54.9%, respectively, with an 80% confidence level. Failure modes were analyzed using fault tree analysis, with customized software continuously acquiring data during the test period. After this period, 21 in vivo animal tests were done, with 14 cases of left atrium to left ventricle (LV) inflow cannulation (36Fr)/outflow grafting to descending aorta, and seven cases of apex cannulation of LV to descending aorta (12 mm). The longest postoperative day (182 days) in Korea was recently recorded in in vivo animal testing (bovine, 90 kg, male, 3.5-4.0 L/min flow rate, and 55 bpm).

Artificial Organs 2011: A Year in Review

“…Hyuk Choi et al (31) of Korea University, Seoul, Korea reported on the durability of their paracorporeal pulsatile electromechanical pneumatic VAD.The 1-and 2-year reliability was shown to be 91.2% and 54.9%, respectively, with an 80% confidence level. Twenty-one in vivo animal tests were done, with 14 cases of left atrium to left ventricle (LV) inflow cannulation/outflow grafting to the descending aorta, and seven cases of apex cannulation of LV to the descending aorta.…”

“…Hyuk Choi et al. (31) of Korea University, Seoul, Korea reported on the durability of their paracorporeal pulsatile electromechanical pneumatic VAD. The 1‐ and 2‐year reliability was shown to be 91.2% and 54.9%, respectively, with an 80% confidence level.…”

Dry Skin

“…Many elderly people suffer from dry skin and experience exacerbation more frequently in the winter, i.e., under dry and cold environmental conditions. Epidermal changes in a dry environment have been shown [7,9]. Although the observed decrease in the stratum corneum lipids in older people may well explain the high incidence of winter dry skin, the progression toward asteatotic eczema cannot be accompanied solely by a quantitative decrease in lipids, suggesting that the evolution of dry skin is also associated with other moisturizing factors and/or environmental stimuli [1].…”