Model Reference Adaptive Control for Aortic Pressure Regulation in Ex Vivo Heart Perfusion

Abstract

This brief proposes the first model reference adaptive control (MRAC) method for aortic pressure (AoP) regulation and maintaining the heart’s physiological aerobic metabolism in ex vivo heart perfusion (EVHP). A mathematical model of the EVHP was established to describe the hemodynamic behavior of EVHP and quantify the changes in cardiac parameters. A reference model consisting of a virtual proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller and the EVHP model was employed to generate the reference trajectory of AoP. An adaptation algorithm tunes the control parameters based on the reference model and the isolated heart. Experiments were conducted using large animal hearts (50 ± 5 kg porcine) to validate the adaptive controller’s performance for stepwise and fast switching AoP references. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed controller for regulating the AoP in isolated porcine hearts, in an accurate (mean error less than 2 mmHg) and fast (4–8 s of settling time) manner.