A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE AIR CHAMBER MODEL OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

Abstract

The development of a more exact mathematical approach to the air chamber model of the cardiovascular system led to evaluation of the practical validity of the mathematical representation and of the usefulness of the model itself. The source of experimental data was 59 cardiac catheterizations of adults with cardiovascular abnormalities. The mathematical approach proved valid insofar as it could be tested, the 7% difference between the average arterial pressure directly measured and that derived by means of the theory from the arterial pressure tracing being within the range of reasonable experimental error. The usefulness of the air chamber was indicated by the similarity of the aortic elasticities determined from the model to values previously found in direct measurements upon the aortas of cadavers.