DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS TO STUDY HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY (HCM)

An experimental apparatus to model the systolic phase of a heartbeat has been developed to investigate the controversy surrounding the cause of high intraventricular pressures for HCM patients. The model, which is two-dimensional, has approximately seven times the volume of an average human heart and operates at Reynolds numbers which are similar to those measured in the left ventricle/aortic arch. Preliminary tests of the model show pressure time relationships similar to those found in vivo.