See how Transonic’s flow measurement solutions can be used in your next research application. Contact our research team for more information.
Cardiovascular physiology simulators have great potential outside of the academic bioengineering lab. Used to model hemodynamics in a bench set-up with tubing substituting for blood vessels, a pump for the heart, and a controller to drive the pulse and contractility, mock circulatory loops promote the hands-on learning of interaction between blood flow, pressure, compliance and resistance during normal and abnormal cardiopulmonary conditions. Flow and pressure sensors incorporated into the model give immediate meaningful feedback on the status of the “patient”. With these simulation tools, acute and chronic intervention therapies can be demonstrated and experienced under controlled situations and without sacrificing animal models for clinical research and training.
One such simulation, the “Kardio Kid”, is a pediatric mock circulation mannequin developed by Dr. George Pantalos, Audrey Riggs, and Justin Heidel at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, University of Louisville for teaching and training critical care pediatric staff. Lifelike cardiovascular conditions for normal and heart failure states are simulated with pulsating “blood” flow that can be monitored with the same pressure and ECG monitors that are used on real patients.
You can also put the simulator on mechanical cardiopulmonary support or ventricular assist support using the same techniques, supplies, and equipment used at the hospital, thereby creating a lifelike setting to maximize the fidelity of the simulation and training experience for hospital staff.
These Flowsensors clip onto the outside of flexible tubing to measure the flow within. They have become the standard for OEM medical design and preclinical extracorporeal use by providing measurements with high accuracy and stability. The non-invasive clamp-on design allows the fluid to be measured without direct contact which is helpful when sterility is a concern or where breaking the tubing circuit would be problematic.
Measurements are reliable even in challenging electromagnetic environments. The easy clip-on operation of the PXL Flowsensors also make these sensors ideal for industrial flow measurement applications when process testing must be quick, repeatable and applied to multiple circuits without flow interruption.
PXN Inline Flowsensors are flow-through sensors with a smooth, cylindrical interior. These Flowsensors offer more flexibility over clamp-on sensors as measurement calibration doesn’t depend on the type and exact size of tubing on which they are used. Direct contact with the fluid allows for very high accuracy at super low flow rates. Small diameter PXN Inlines are ideal for low flow isolated heart or perfused organ studies.
