Progress with the Development of the Virtual Mock Loop for Mechanical Circulatory Support Device Testing.

The virtual mock loop (VML) is a computer program that simulates the hemodynamic interactions of one or more mechanical circulatory support (MCS) pumps and its circulatory environment. It has been used to study MCS devices being developed at the Cleveland Clinic. The scope of the VML has been expanded, over time, to include several different device and circulatory models. Recently, the advanced VML has been designed to address management and storage of various mathematical models and case-scenarios, and pre-recorded data from in vivo , and in vitro studies. The VML contains several different lumped parameter models can be selected and evaluated. The VML has been updated to store and organize data from different origins in way that makes comparison easier (Fig.1). The recent updates to the VML help the user study either: the effects of changing a mathematical model, validating existing models with recorded experimental data, or the composition of new models by combining existing device and circulatory models in different combinations and configurations. The system enables the user to adjust the parameters of a clinical case with a faster but more simple model, before switching to a more comprehensive one for fine tuning and rendering on the system interface. User-friendly comparison of data generated by the VML and from other sources makes it an effective tool for studying the mathematical models, the broad range of mechanical circulatory devices and circulatory hemodynamics and offers reproducibility of blood pump testing at low-cost. Fig.1 The VML showing a list of available models (A), and comparing in vivo and in silico data (B). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]