BIOENGINEERING SOLUTIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF HEART FAILURE

For the last 50 years, deaths from cardiovascular disease have steadily declined. The major exception is heart failure (HF), which is a disease condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the metabolic requirements of the patient's body. HF has steadily increased over the last 50 years for both men and women of all races. This chapter discusses HF as a public health problem and a bioengineering solution for reversing this condition and restoring the patients' cardiac function. Design principles are presented for mechanical circulatory support systems, including ventricular assist devices and heart replacements or total artificial hearts.