Adaptive physiological speed/flow control of rotary blood pumps in permanent implantation using intrinsic pump parameters.

An adaptive speed/flow controller was developed based on previous work using the intrinsic pump parameters. Those intrinsic parameters were measured by long-term reliable sensors. The adaptive controller was designed to track the varying total peripheral resistance and update the controller parameters correspondingly. The controller was studied in computer simulation on two different types of pumps, whose hydrodynamic characteristics are described by static and dynamic equation, respectively. The pump pressure rise of both pumps is accessible. With the designed adaptive controller, the abnormal hemodynamic values indicating congestive heart failure, including total blood flow, mean aortic pressure, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, are all successfully restored to normal ranges. This good performance is consistent for both pumps in the variation of activities and left ventricular failure levels. The results show that the designed controller can be applicable for rotary blood pumps whose pump pressure rise can be measured or derived from pump intrinsic parameters.