Artificial Heart and Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

The Artificial Heart and Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Lab was established in the early 1970s when Penn State faculty members teamed with researchers at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center to develop a total functioning artificial heart. Since that time, discoveries in the lab have lead to the development of a number of commercial devices that are still in use in the the medical industry today.

The group’s research focuses on the use of experimental flow measurement techniques to understand and eliminate areas of blood damage and thrombus deposition associated with cardiovascular devices.

These devices include:

• artificial hearts
• ventricular assist devices
• prosthetic heart valves
• a number of others