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BACKGROUND: The development of a novel surgical tool or technique used in mitral valve repair can be hampered by the cost, complexity, and time associated with performing animal trials. We sought to develop a dynamically pressurized model which detects and quantifies mitral regurgitation in intact porcine hearts in order to preliminarily evaluate the effectiveness of mitral valve repair methods without the need for animal trials. METHODS: A computer controlled pulse duplication system was designed to accept freshly explanted porcine hearts and replicate a wide range of physiological conditions. To test the capabilities of this system in measuring mitral regurgitation, the cardiac output of four hearts was measured under two different peak left atrial pressures (120 and 150 mmHg) before and after induced mitral valve failures. Measurements were compared with clinically standard echocardiographic images. RESULTS: For all trials, cardiac output decreased as peak left atrial pressure was increased. After induction of mitral valve insufficiencies, cardiac output decreased, with a peak regurgitant fraction of 27%. These findings correlated well with the results from echocardiography. CONCLUSIONS: The resulting system is able to consistently and reliably detect and quantify mitral regurgitation and serves as an effective tool for the design of mitral valve repair techniques. The system is advantageous in its low experimental cost and time associated with each trial, while still allowing for surgical evaluations in an intact heart.