Concept of totally biological internal coating for newly shaped artificial ventricles.

ABSTRACT

The need for improvement of artificial heart biocompatibility led to the design of new artificial ventricles with biological internal coating and new shapes and sizes. The internal coating of these artificial ventricles is made of a molded single-piece, glutaraldehyde-preserved pericardial sac. The pericardial sac was obtained from the entire intact pericardium of Yucatan pigs. The pericardium was molded and fixed in a 0.6% glutaraldehyde buffered solution and specifically cut to obtain a truncated egg shaped sac with specific dimensions and 110 cm3 total volume. Two pericardial sacs associated with one another form a biventricular device to create a new orthotopic total artificial heart. The compliance of this device to rules pertaining to total artificial heart concept and implantation makes plausible a new total artificial heart which given its biomaterials, shape, and dimensions can provide optimal anatomical, biological, and hemodynamic conditions.