P-Wave controller for a total artificial heart

This thesis presents research related to the development of an automatic controller which modulates cardiac output of the Atkutsu artificial heart as a function of the frequency of the P-wave. This neural signal is obtained from electrodes implanted on the natural atrium. The P-wave controller, which has been designed and built, detects the successive pulses, measures the time interval between pulses, and determines the timing intervals of diastole and systole for the artificial heart. Of particular interest is the fact that the P-wave controller is designed around a single board computer. Experiments with different control algorithms can be carried out merely by changing the software.