THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERCUTANEOUS ACCESS PORT FOR SMALL ANIMAL MONITORING WILL PROVIDE A USEFUL TOOL TO BOTH CARDIO-VASCULAR AND PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERCUTANEOUS ACCESS PORT FOR SMALL ANIMAL MONITORING WILL PROVIDE A USEFUL TOOL TO BOTH CARDIO-VASCULAR AND PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH. THE DEVICE IS INTENDED TO BE IMPLANTED IN A VARIETY OF RESEARCH ANIMALS TOPROVIDE SAFE, CONVENIENT ACCESS SITES FOR FLUSHING, SAMPLING, INJECTION, AND CHRONIC PRESSURE MONITORING. PRESSURE MONITORING WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM THE IMPLANTED ANIMAL WITHOUT DISCOMFORT OR EXCESSIVE RESTRAINT VIA AN EASILY COUPLED SOLID-STATE PRESSURE TRANSDUCER. THE DATA RETRIEVED WILL BE OF HIGH FIDELITY, AND THE COST PER ANIMAL WILL BE VERY LOW IN COMPARISON TO CURRENT METHODS. AN IMPORTANT PROJECT OBJECTIVE WILL BE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR THE DEVICE, DEFINITION OF LIMITA- TIONS, AND EXAMINATION OP EPIDURAL HEALING MECHANISMS INVOLVED. EXTENSIVE TESTING WILL BE EMPLOYED AND IMPROVE- MENTS MADE TO ENHANCE THE LONGEVITY OF THE IMPLANT, THE PATENCY OF ITS INDWELLING CANNULAE, AND THE REQUIREMENTS FORCARE AND FLUSHING OF THE UNIT. CONTINUOUS FLUSHING OF THE CATHETER WILL REDUCE THE MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS OF LABORATORY PERSONNEL AND ASSIST IN REDUCING COSTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS DEVELOP- MENT, 300-500 GM RATS WILL BE IMPLANTED FOR A PERIOD OF ONE TO FOUR WEEKS EACH. RECORDINGS WILL BE TAKEN REGULARLY TO DETERMINE AND EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF THE PRESSURE SIGNAL INAN IMPLANTED MODE. FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF THE DEVICE WOULD INCLUDE STUDIES OF EXERCISE, ENVIRONMENT, AND HYPERTENSION USING SMALL AND LARGE ANIMALS.