The Heart Considered as A V-Pump

To understand how the heart carries out its pumping function is a real challenge and it involves multi-disciplinary knowledge. In 1986 Lundbäck suggested that the heart behaves as a piston pump (called ΔV-pump) with a unique piston shape; this particular design creates pressure gradients that cause the hydraulic return of the piston. The ΔV-pump combines characteristic from both positive displacement and dynamic pumps. A physical model can be a precious aid for understanding and predicting the dynamics of a complex system therefore the aim of this thesis work is to suggest and develop a physical model of the hydraulic behavior of the heart based on the ∆V-pump. Due to its domain-independent representation the bond graph formalism is chosen for the physical model description. The model is implemented and simulated in Dymola a software platform based on the object-oriented programming language Modelica.Fusion of knowledge from different areas such as engineering physiology and computer science helped to reach the aim.