A software package to standardise pulsatile in-vitro testing of prosthetic heart valves

Data comparability Is a crucial aspect in in-vitro evaluation of prosthetic heart valves and it is still a matter of debate among researchers and standardization bodies. When adopting pulsatile flow testing systems the main difficulties arise from the difference in system design and in protocol implementation. At the laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of the Istituto Superiore dl Sanita efforts are being made towards obtaining comparable data, significant for both surgeons and authorities in decision making situations, A software package has been designed to manage all the phases of the pulsatile testing session, and meant to standardise the procedures involved also when using different pulse duplicators.