The cardiovascular system is a complex network of various functions. Cardiac strength, vascular features and other aspects all exert complex effects on haemodynamics which can only be understood as a whole. These complex relationships need to be firmly embedded throughout the medical mindset, as in an emergency, the correct diagnosis, interpretation and treatment can be a matter of life and death.

Given the large number of complex factors involved, medical students often find understanding these systems very challenging. This is complicated by the fact that the individual educational parameters involved are unreliably quantifiable by means of self-experimentation. This project will involve creating a mechanical model reflecting the relationship between the heart and the circulatory system, enabling medical professionals to measure and record pressure in different parts of the body in conjunction with volume flow.

The model can alter individual functions, such as cardiac force, preload and vascular stiffness, and measure the resulting effects. By interactively manipulating the parameters that would otherwise be impossible to present in the classroom, we can introduce students to cardiovascular physiology in didactically higher quality, and demonstrating pertinent illnesses, such as valve stenosis/insufficiency and vascular ageing.

This model is used in general medical instruction (3rd/4th semester) at the JKU's Department of Physiology as part of the hands-on units and is intended to add to the range of available courses.