The role of hydraulic circulatory duplicators in the study of surgical operations for complex congenital cardiac diseases

A hydraulic circulatory duplicator is a hydraulic circuit, closed or open that physically reproduces one human district, along with the effects of any connected apparatus, on local fluid dynamics. Such hydraulic circulatory duplicators are usually made up of rigid or deformable pipes, pressure loss generators, such as valves or sponge elements, compliant elements such as a pneumatic room, elastic elements, pumping elements, which may be centrifugal, axial, or roller, and tanks. All the elements are connected by joints. The systems are completed by transducers of pressure or flow, and systems for visualising flow or measuring other parameters of interest.