Evaluation of a morphological filter in mean cardiac output determination: application to left ventricular assist devices

Med Biol Eng Comput. 2013 Aug;51(8):891-9. doi: 10.1007/s11517-013-1061-6. Epub 2013 Mar 23.

Abstract

A morphological filter (MF) is presented for the determination of beat-to-beat mean rotary left ventricular assist device (LVAD) flow rate, measured using an implanted flow probe. The performance of this non-linear filter was assessed using LVAD flow rate (QLVAD) data sets obtained from in silico and in vivo sources. The MF was compared with a third-order Butterworth filter (BWF) and a 10-s moving average filter (MAF). Performance was assessed by calculating the response time and steady state error across a range of heart rates and levels of noise. The response time of the MF was 3.5 times faster than the MAF, 0.5 s slower than the BWF, and had a steady state error of 2.61 %. It completely removed pulsatile signal components caused by residual ventricular function, and tracked sharp transient changes in QLVAD better than the BWF. The use of a two-stage MF improved the noise immunity compared to the single-stage MF. This study showed that the good performance characteristics of the non-linear MF make it a more suitable candidate for embedded real-time processing of QLVAD than linear filters.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Cardiac Output / physiology*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Heart Rate / physiology
  • Heart-Assist Devices*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Sheep
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*
  • Ventricular Function, Left / physiology*