Design and validation of an In Vitro test bench for the investigation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedure

Despite recent clinical and technological advancements, the cardiac arrest survival rate remains as low as 10%. To enhance patient outcomes, it is crucial to deepen the understanding of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at a fundamental level. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge on the physiological effects of CPR, in particular on the hemodynamics in the heart and the great vessels. The design and validation of a dedicated in vitro heart simulator, capable of replicating the physiological response to CPR, holds the potential to provide valuable insights into the fluid dynamics in the heart during CPR but also to be used as a platform for the development and testing of mechanical CPR machines. The main objective of this study is to design and validate the first in vitro heart simulator that can replicate the physiological response during CPR. For that, a custom-made heart simulator is designed consisting of an elastic model of the complete heart and a controllable linear actuator. The heart model is positioned in an anatomical position, and the linear actuator compresses the model at specific rates and depths. Flow and pressure waveforms are recorded on the newly developed simulator at 60 contractions per minute and results are validated against reported in vivo data in the literature. Finally, the system’s capabilities are evaluated by considering several combinations of compression rates and depths.