Development of Novel Cardiovascular Assisting Device For Patients With Total Cavopulmonary Connection (TCPC)

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The aim of this project is to develop a device that will assist the circulation of patients with total cavopulmonary connection, which is a typical surgically-altered form of circulation after the Fontan procedure on congenital single ventricle defect of the heart. While the Fontan procedure has a successful history over decades, lack of pulsatile pumping power due to the single ventricle physiology causes a patient's health to decline over the years after the surgery, typically in a form of venous hypertension. The goal, therefore, is to design and develop a device that produces additional driving support to the weakened circulation. The device will utilise the commonly-used surgical graft, expanded polytetrafluroethylene (ePTFE) tube, and a forward flow will be generated by controlled peristalsis using contractile metallic elements from the outside of the graft. This novel approach is also safe, because even in case of contractile element failure, the graft still works as a conduit. Design parameters will be explored using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for fast identification of optimal design for an efficient flow-driving mechanism. The developed model will then be tested in an in vitro mock circulatory system. A well-validated working prototype is expected in the end of the project, which will work as a springboard for further development towards clinical translation.