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A mock heart circulation loop (MHCL) is a hydraulic model simulating the human circulatory system. It allows in vitro investigations of the interaction between cardiac assist devices and the human circulatory system. In this study, a preload sensitive MHCL, the MHCL AUTO , was developed to investigate the interaction between the left ventricle and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). The Frank-Starling mechanism was modeled by regulating the stroke volume (SV) based on the measured mean diastolic left atrial pressure (MLAP diast ). The baroreflex autoregulation mechanism was implemented to maintain a constant mean aortic pressure (MAP) by varying ventricular contractility (E max ), heart rate (HR), afterload/systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and unstressed venous volume (UVV). The DP3 blood pump (Medos Medizintechnik GmbH) was used to simulate the LVAD. Characteristic parameters were measured in pathological conditions both with and without LVAD to assess the hemodynamic effect of LVAD on the MHCL AUTO . The results obtained from the MHCL AUTO show a high correlation to literature data. The study demonstrates the possibility of using the MHCL AUTO as a research tool to better understand the physiological interactions between cardiac implants and human circulation., (Copyright © 2015 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)