Design and Integration of a 3D-Printed Aortic Phantom in an Experimental Setup for a Passive Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Testing

The development and validation of cardiovascular medical devices require reliable in vitro platforms capable of reproducing physiological hemodynamic conditions. This thesis focuses on the improvement of an existing aortic simulator developed within the host company, with the aim of increasing its anatomical and hemodynamic realism to enable more accurate testing of a passive intra-aoortic balloon pump. The work involved the design of the aortic component of the simulator starting from segmented imaging data of a real human aorta. The model was 3D printed with a stereolithographic printer, and then integrated into the existing simulator. Experimental validation was carried out to assess the hemodynamic performance of the upgraded system. Pressure waveforms were acquired and compared with physiological profiles reported in the literature. The results showed good agreement in terms of waveform morphology and pressure values, demonstrating an improved reproduction of realistic conditions. Additional tests were performed with the device connected to the simulator in order to evaluate system stability and pressure behavior during operative use.