There is an established tradition of cardiovascular simulation tools, but the\napplication of this kind of technology in the e-Learning arena is a novel approach.\nThis paper presents an e-Learning environment aimed at teaching the interaction of\ncardiovascular and lung systems to health-care professionals. Heart-lung interaction\nmust be analyzed while assisting patients with severe respiratory problems or with\nheart failure in intensive care unit. Such patients can be assisted by mechanical\nventilatory assistance or by thoracic artificial lung.\nââ?¬Å?In silicoââ?¬Â cardiovascular simulator was experimented during a training course given\nto graduate students of the School of Specialization in Cardiology at ââ?¬Ë?Sapienzaââ?¬â?¢\nUniversity in Rome.\nThe training course employed CARDIOSIMÃ?©: a numerical simulator of the cardiovascular\nsystem. Such simulator is able to reproduce pathophysiological conditions of patients\naffected by cardiovascular and/or lung disease. In order to study the interactions\namong the cardiovascular system, the natural lung and the thoracic artificial lung (TAL),\nthe numerical model of this device has been implemented. After having reproduced a\npatientââ?¬â?¢s pathological condition, TAL model was applied in parallel and hybrid model\nduring the training course.\nResults obtained during the training course show that TAL parallel assistance reduces\nright ventricular end systolic (diastolic) volume, but increases left ventricular end systolic\n(diastolic) volume. The percentage changes induced by hybrid TAL assistance on\nhaemodynamic variables are lower than those produced by parallel assistance. Only in\nthe case of the mean pulmonary arterial pressure, there is a percentage reduction\nwhich, in case of hybrid assistance, is greater (about 40%) than in case of parallel\nassistance (20-30%).\nAt the end of the course, a short questionnaire was submitted to students in order to\nassess the quality of the course. The feedback obtained was positive, showing good\nresults with respect to the degree of studentsââ?¬â?¢ learning and the ease of use of the\nsoftware simulator.
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