Nicholas Gaddum

DEC Pharmaceutical · Auckland New Zealand

Objective Treatment of aortic coarctation has seen a shift from traditional surgical repair to the use of aortic stents. The aim of this study was to assess the impact upon hemodynamics and arterial strain when aortic coarctation is treated with a stent using an experimental coarctation model, and to confirm any findings in a clinical cohort using...

Figure S1. Validation of in vitro model of coronary circulation. Figure S2. Theoretical model derivation. Figure S3. Example clinical case demonstrating utility of mathematical correction model.

Arterial pressure is an important diagnostic parameter for cardiovascular disease. However relative contributions of individual ventricular and arterial parameters in generating and augmenting pressure are not understood. Using a novel experimental arterial model, our aim was to characterise individual parameter contributions to arterial pressure a...

In this paper a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) experiment is presented. The aim of this experiment is to provide a challenging yet easy-to-setup FSI test case that addresses the need for rigorous testing of FSI algorithms and modeling frameworks. Steady-state and periodic steady-state test cases with constant and periodic inflow were established...

Transmural lesion formation is critical to success in atrial fibrillation ablation and is dependent on left atrial wall thickness (LAWT). Pre- and peri-procedural planning may benefit from LAWT measurements. To calculate the LAWT, the Laplace equation was solved over a finite element mesh of the left atrium derived from the segmented computed tomog...

Aims Transmural lesion formation is critical to success in atrial fibrillation ablation and is dependent on left atrial wall thickness (LAWT). Pre-and peri-procedural planning may benefit from LAWT measurements. Methods and results To calculate the LAWT, the Laplace equation was solved over a finite element mesh of the left atrium derived from the...

Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), a major prognostic indicator of cardiovascular events, may be augmented in hypertension as a result of the aorta being stretched by a higher distending blood pressure or by a structural change. We used a novel technique to modulate intrathoracic pressure and thus aortic transmural pressure (TMP) to examine the var...

The present study investigates the response of implantable rotary blood pump (IRBP)-assisted patients to exercise and head-up tilt (HUT), as well as the effect of alterations in the model parameter values on this response, using validated numerical models. Furthermore, we comparatively evaluate the performance of a number of previously proposed phy...

Objectives We investigated the feasibility of visual and quantitative assessment of coronary vessel wall contrast enhancement (CE) for detection of symptomatic atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) and subclinical coronary vasculitis in autoimmune inflammatory disease (systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]), as well as the association with aor...

Increased aortic stiffness is related to increased ventricular stiffness and remodeling. Myocardial fibrosis is the pathophysiological hallmark of failing heart. We investigated the relationship between noninvasive imaging markers of myocardial fibrosis, native T1, and late gadolinium enhancement, respectively, and aortic stiffness in ventricular r...

Thoracic pulse wave velocity (PWV) variation due to modulated trans-mural pressure (TMP) may indicate mechanical properties of the aorta. Our aim was to measure beat-to-beat thoracic PWV and TMP to observe its normal variation during respiratory maneuvers. We validated PWV measurements from a real-time velocity projection MRI scan in a pulsatile ph...

Accurate measurement of blood pressure is important because it is a biomarker for cardiovascular disease. Diagnostic catheterization is routinely used for pressure acquisition in vessels despite being subject to significant measurement errors. To investigate these errors, this study compares pressure measurement using two different techniques in vi...

The application of rotary left ventricular (LV) assist devices (LVADs) is expanding from bridge to transplant, to destination and bridge to recovery therapy. Conventional constant speed LVAD controllers do not regulate flow according to preload, and can cause over/underpumping, leading to harmful ventricular suction or pulmonary edema, respectively...

Non-invasive assessment of arterial stiffness through pulse wave velocity (PWV) analysis is becoming common clinical practice. However, the effects of measurement noise, temporal resolution and similarity of the two waveforms used for PWV calculation upon accuracy and variability are unknown. We studied these effects upon PWV estimates given by foo...

The efficient delivery of nanomaterials to specific targets for in vivo biomedical imaging is hindered by rapid sequestration by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) and consequent short circulation times. In order to overcome these two problems, we have prepared a new stealth PEG polymer conjugate containing a terminal 1,1-bisphosphonate (BP) grou...

Long-term rotary left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are increasingly employed to bridge patients with end-stage heart failure to transplant or as a destination therapy. Significant recent device development has increased patient support times, shifting further development focus toward physiologically sensitive control of the pump operation. Se...

A clinically intuitive physiologic controller is desired to improve the interaction between implantable rotary blood pumps and the cardiovascular system. This controller should restore the Starling mechanism of the heart, thus preventing overpumping and underpumping scenarios plaguing their implementation. A linear Starling-like controller for pump...

Objective: To assess MRI compatibility and suitability of a new sutureless stent-graft made from Nitinol bonded to nanocomposite polymer (NP). Methods: 1. Using MRI and Magnevist contrast, isotropic 3D T1-weighted FFE images of NP stent-graft were acquired to observe artefacts and stationary signal attenuation. Average signal magnitude was calculat...

Elderly women have increased aortic and ventricular stiffness but preserved global systolic function. Possible gender differences in ventricular deformation attributed to increased aortic stiffness at rest or with positive inotropic stress remain unknown. Eighty-four subjects (mean age: 63±8 years) were assessed for aortic stiffness by pulse wave v...

The use of rotary left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) has extended to destination and recovery therapy for end-stage heart failure. Incidence of right ventricular failure while on LVAD support requires a second device be implanted to support the failing right ventricle. Without a commercially available implantable rotary right ventricular assis...

The optimal treatment option for end stage heart failure is transplantation; however, the shortage of donor organs necessitates alternative treatment strategies such as mechanical circulatory assistance. Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are employed to support these cases while awaiting cardiac recovery or transplantation, or in some cases as dest...

A physiological control system was developed for a rotary left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in which the target pump flow rate (LVADQ) was set as a function of left atrial pressure (LAP), mimicking the Frank-Starling mechanism. The control strategy was implemented using linear PID control and was evaluated in a pulsatile mock circulation loop u...

The absence of an effective, easily implantable right ventricular assist device (RVAD) significantly diminishes long-term treatment options for patients with biventricular heart failure. The implantation of a second rotary left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for right heart support is therefore being considered; however, this approach exhibits te...

Limited preload sensitivity of rotary left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) renders patients susceptible to harmful atrial or ventricular suction events. Active control systems may be used to rectify this problem; however, they usually depend on unreliable sensors or potentially inaccurate inferred data from, for example, motor current. This stud...

Clinical studies have reported the balancing of pump outputs to be a serious control issue for rotary biventricular support (BiVS) systems. Poor reliability of long-term, blood immersed pressure sensors encouraged the development of a new control strategy to improve their viability. A rotary BiVS device was designed and constructed with a mechanica...

Recent studies into rotary biventricular support have indicated that inadequate left/right flow balancing may lead to vascular congestion and/or ventricular suckdown. The implementation of a passive controller that automatically adjusts left/right flow during total and partial cardiac support would improve physiological interaction. This has encour...

Cardiovascular assist devices are tested in mock circulation loops (MCLs) prior to animal and clinical testing. These MCLs rely on characteristics such as pneumatic parameters to create pressure and flow, and pipe dimensions to replicate the resistance, compliance and fluid inertia of the natural cardiovascular system. A mathematical simulation was...

For the last two decades heart disease has been the highest single cause of death for the human population. With an alarming number of patients requiring heart transplant, and donations not able to satisfy the demand, treatment looks to mechanical alternatives. Rotary Ventricular Assist Devices, VADs, are miniature pumps which can be implanted alon...