Abstract
Although heart transplantation is a gold standard for severe heart failure, there is a need for alternative effective therapies. A dielectric‐elastomer aorta is used to augment the physiological role of the aorta in the human circulatory system. To this end, the authors developed a tubular dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) able to assist the heart by easing the deformation of the aorta in the systole and by increasing its recoil force in the diastole. In vitro experiments using a pulsatile flow‐loop, replicating human physiological flow and pressure conditions, show a reduction of 5.5% (47 mJ per cycle) of the heart energy with this device. Here, the controlled stiffness of the DEA graft, which is usually difficult to exploit for actuators, is perfectly matching the assistance principle. At the same time, the physiological aortic pressure is exploited to offer a prestretch to the DEA which otherwise would require an additional bulky pre‐stretching system to reach high performances.
Highlights
Introduction creases the afterload pressureAortic counterpulsation device avoids rotary components (associated with high risk ofHeart failure (HF) is a devastating disease that affects more than haemolysis and thrombosis which force patients to use anti-11 million people in the United States and Europe and more than coagulants during their lifetime[5]) and it ensures pulsatile flow 23 million worldwide.[1]
The mechanical work provided by the dielectric-elastomeraugmented aorta (DEAA) is the work of the pressure forces all along the interface between the fluid and the membrane of the dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA)
For a homogeneous pressure in the lumen of DEAA, the work becomes related to the area of the pressure–volume cycle in the Figure 5
Summary
Introduction creases the afterload pressureAortic counterpulsation device avoids rotary components (associated with high risk ofHeart failure (HF) is a devastating disease that affects more than haemolysis and thrombosis which force patients to use anti-11 million people in the United States and Europe and more than coagulants during their lifetime[5]) and it ensures pulsatile flow 23 million worldwide.[1]. Heart failure (HF) is a devastating disease that affects more than haemolysis and thrombosis which force patients to use anti-. IABP equipwith an artificial assist device in humans dates back to 1966.[2] Al- ment, being pneumatically driven, are bulky and difficult to fully though heart transplant is the gold standard for selected patients implant. Suffering from severe heart failure, there is a need for alternative. Pelrine[7] introduced a new family of soft aceffective therapies due to the shortage of heart donors. Further tuators called dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA). Those DEAs developments of cardiac assist devices could eliminate or delay are made of a hyper-elastic membrane sandwiched between comthe need for a transplant. When subjected to an electric field, the generated Maxwell stress causes the membrane to compress out-of-
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