A comprehensive approach towards extra-corporal circulation control using fuzzy logic

Extra-corporal Circulation Support Systems (ECCS) are used in cardiac surgery on a daily basis. Surgeons and perfusionists supervise patients´ vital signals such as heart rate or blood pressure and ensure secure and errorless operation of the system. An automated ECCS can help to reduce the workload of human operators and can provide a patient with optimal perfusion. In our opinion a fuzzy controller is predestinated for autonomus heart-lung machine (HLM) control, since it allows a straightforward implementation of expert knowledge and is able to deal with inherently imprecise data. In this work we present a comprehensive approach towards intelligent HLM automation that uses fuzzy logic as a control methodology. This approach includes the development of a mechanical circulatory model, a purely virtual model, as well as animal experiments.