Determination of stroke volume of the ventricular assist device using bioimpedance method

The stroke volume of pulsatile ventricular assist device (VAD) is one of the key clinical indicators to evaluate the adequacy of the process of mechanical heart assistance and ensuring the patient’s safety. In order to evaluate the volume changes in VAD blood chamber, a bioimpedance method was applied, based on volumetric electric conductivity of the blood. Periodic changes in VAD volume during its operation result in a pulsatile impedance waveform; its amplitude in the subperiods of filling and ejection correlates with blood volume in the chamber. The paper presents the method of analysis of the bioimpedance signal recorded in VAD blood chamber with a reference to the classical method of analysing the cardioimpedance signal from the patient’s thorax. The paper also presents the results of determining stroke volume of blood chamber based on an empirical formula that has been developed.