Cardiovascular Mechanics PDF

Cardiovascular Mechanics PDF Free Download

Decisions in cardiovascular surgery can be life-and-death decisions and often need to be made fast. This is the realm of evidence-based decision-making algorithms that are updated as practices evolve and new techniques are adopted. These algorithms originate from guidelines and recommendations elaborated after statistical treatment of data collected on whole cohorts of patients. While the decision to put knife to skin may be eminently binary, there are usually multiple ways to do so, and the amount of training of the surgeon and supporting team will heavily influence the patient outcome. Therefore, not only the initial decision needs to be adequate but also both the ensuing plan and implementation must be flawless. Surgical planning, as possibly aided by computer simulations to evaluate different scenarios, is one specific area in which biomedical engineers are increasingly involved, aside from their usual role in the development of new medical devices. Many surgeons have already shown an interest in such contributions. Still, the questions addressed, along with the pace of investigation in biomedical engineering or basic science laboratories, are quite different from what clinicians may be familiar with. This is because experimental test methods need to be developed and mastered before producing consistent, meaningful data, and more often than not, simulation tools also need to be either developed from scratch or modified from existing computational tools. Computer models always need to be verified (i.e., do they solve the problem right? In other words, are the underlying mathematics and computer science correctly implemented?) Computer models also need to be validated (i.e., do they solve the right problem? In other words, does the idealized problem at hand include enough physical phenomena or is it oversimplified?) Both the verification and validation aspects of simulations are rather well established for biomedical engineering devices, thanks to regulatory compliance and certification procedures. However, they are still open-ended concepts, with no standards to speak of when it comes to cardiovascular modeling, because of, among other things, the complexity of their tissue mechanics.