Publications de Francesco Clavica

Breaking the Cardiovascular Flow Barrier for Dielectric Elastomer Actuator-Based Pumping: Design and Characterization

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Amine Benouhiba

Pumps play a crucial role in sustaining life by facilitating fluid circulation within the human body. This article presents the design and characterization of a high-performance tubular dielectric elastomer pump. The study investigates three distinct pump ...

2025

Soft Beats: A Dielectric Elastomer-Based Ventricular Assist Device for Next-Gen Heart Failure Management

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Amine Benouhiba

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are vital for patients with severe heart failure but often face limitations in energy efficiency and adaptability. To address these challenges, the dielectric elastomer-based electropneumatic device (DE-EPD) is introduced, ...

2025

Novel para-aortic cardiac assistance using a pre-stretched dielectric elastomer actuator

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter

Objectives We propose an evolution of a dielectric elastomer actuator based cardiac assist device that acts as a counterpulsation system. We introduce a new pre-stretched actuator and implant the device in a graft bypass between the ascending and descendin ...

2024

Dielectric elastomer actuator-based valveless pump as Fontan failure assist device: introduction and preliminary study

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Amine Benouhiba

OBJECTIVES: Fontan failure refers to a condition in which the Fontan circulation, a surgical procedure used to treat certain congenital heart defects, becomes insufficient, leading to compromised cardiac function and potential complications. This in vitro ...

Oxford Univ Press2024

Hemodynamic effects of a dielectric elastomer augmented aorta on aortic wave intensity: An in-vivo study

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Lorenzo Ferrari

Dielectric elastomer actuator augmented aorta (DEA) represents a novel approach with high potential for assisting a failing heart. The soft tubular device replaces a section of the aorta and increases its diameter when activated. The hemodynamic interactio ...

2023

Dielectric Elastomer Actuator-Based Valveless Impedance-Driven Pumping for Meso- and Macroscale Applications

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Amine Benouhiba

Impedance pumps are simple designs that allow the generation or amplification of flow. They are fluid-filled systems based on flexible tubing connected to tubing with different impedances. A periodic off-center compression of the flexible tubing causes the ...

2023

A novel soft cardiac assist device based on a dielectric elastomer augmented aorta: An in vivo study

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Jonathan André Jean-Marie Chavanne, Silje Ekroll Jahren, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter, Lorenzo Ferrari

Although heart transplant is the preferred solution for patients suffering from heart failures, cardiac assist devices remain key substitute therapies. Among them, aortic augmentation using dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) might be an alternative tech ...

2022

Energy Analysis of a Cardiac Assist Device based on Dielectric Elastomer Actuator through an Equivalent Electrical Circuit

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Jonathan André Jean-Marie Chavanne, Francesco Clavica

Lumped parameter model and mock circulation loop are two tools commonly used in biomedical research to simulate cardiac system in order to study different assist devices. In this paper, a lumped parameter model is proposed to simulate a circulation loop. T ...

IEEE2021

Feasibility of a Dielectric Elastomer Augmented Aorta

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Jonathan André Jean-Marie Chavanne, David Moser, Morgan Almanza, Francesco Clavica

Although heart transplantation is a gold standard for severe heart failure, there is a need for alternative effective therapies. A dielectric‐elastomer aorta is used to augment the physiological role of the aorta in the human circulatory system. To this en ...

2021

Manufacturing and Tests of a Tubular Multilayer Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for an Impedance Pump

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Jonathan André Jean-Marie Chavanne, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, David Moser, Francesco Clavica, Armando Matthieu Walter

During the last three decades, the field of electro active polymers (EAP) has seen a rapidly growing interest worldwide. These materials can exhibit many advantages, such as elasticity, high energy density, high dynamics and are often nicknamed artificial ...

2020

In vitro investigations of red blood cell phase separation in a complex microchannel network

Francesco Clavica

Microvascular networks feature a complex topology with multiple bifurcating vessels. Nonuniform partitioning (phase separation) of red blood cells (RBCs) occurs at diverging bifurcations, leading to a heterogeneous RBC distribution that ultimately affects ...

2020

Development of a biologically inspired in-vitro platform for long-term assessment of commercial and innovative ureteral stents

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Francesco Clavica

Ureteral stents are small flexible tubes which are clinically used to restore the urine drainage in presence of obstructions of the ureteral lumen such as tumours, kidney/ureteral stones. The lifetime risk of developing urinary stones is about 20% in men a ...

2019

Impedance pumping as a non-invasive treatment for underactive bladder? An ex-vivo proof-of-concept-study in porcine bladders

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Francesco Clavica

In patients suffering from underactive bladder (UAB), the contraction of the detrusor muscle has insufficient strength or duration to ensure efficient bladder emptying. Although catheterisation is currently the most effective method to empty the bladder, i ...

2019

Urine-Contactless Device to Empty Bladders: an Ex-Vivo Proof-of-Concept Study in Porcine Bladders

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Francesco Clavica

Current treatments for underactive bladder (UAB) have negative side effects, such as urinary tract infections, mainly because devices used for bladder emptying are in direct contact with urine (e.g. permanent or intermittent catheterisation). Moreover, mos ...

Wiley2019