Analysis and correction of pressure wave distortion in fluid-filled catheter systems

Dynamic characteristics of a variety of catheters and their dependence on various operating parameters are presented. Careful flushing of the catheter with degassed water or saline considerably improves the performance of these systems. The operating temperature, number of catheter uses, and average transmural pressure difference do not have a significant effect. The error due to catheter distortion in commonly used left ventricular performance indices (end diastolic pressure, peak systolic pressure, maximum dp/dt and V max ) was assessed. On the basis of these results, it is shown that the natural frequency of the catheter system must be greater than 40 Hz to produce results accurate to 10%. The experimental data were used to develop a semi-empirical model for the catheter transducer system. This model was used in the design of an analog compensator to further improve the dynamic characteristics of the catheter transducer system. The compensator requires only two parameter settings, catheter natural frequency and damping ratio.