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Design of mechanical arterial simulator

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). / A force controlled ultrasound probe is being explored as a new method of measuring blood pressure. An arterial simulator was designed and built for experiments. For this simulator, the vessels and bulk material were designed to meet the specifications of literature values of the physical dimensions and elastic modulus of carotid and brachial arteries and bulk surrounding the arteries. This was done through the use of a PVA cyrogel and Thermo rubber- mineral oil solution as the materials for the vessel and bulk material respectively. The concentration of the ingredients and the number of freeze thaw cycle of the cyrogel control the elasticity of the two materials. Custom molds were fabricated to the desired physical dimensions. Upon integration of the vessel and bulk, the vessel was connected to a network of hoses and a pump. The pump is a diaphragm pump whose volume/stroke and speed can be independently controlled to simulate the pulsing of a real human heart. Measurements were taken of the force applied to the probe for static pressures to demonstrate the force varying linearly with pressure. Further measurements were taken with fluid flowing through the vessel at various probe heights to demonstrate how force and thus pressure vary with height and to demonstrate that the probe can detect the waveforms that result from the vessels pulsing with each stroke of the diaphragm pump. / by Lauren Chai. / S.B.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74431
Date January 2012
CreatorsChai, Lauren (Lauren Amy)
ContributorsBrian Anthony., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
PublisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Source SetsM.I.T. Theses and Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format74 p., application/pdf
RightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

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