The pressure/flow regulator is designed to regulate the pressure or flow rate of liquid. It was developed to be used as part of emka TECHNOLOGIES' isolated heart system. However, it may be used with any tissue or organ perfusion system in which a constant pressure or constant flow is required. 

The isolated heart system from emka TECHNOLOGIES can be used for running Langendorff or working heart experiments in hearts from mice, rats, guinea-pigs and rabbits.

1. In the Langendorff configuration, perfusate is pumped towards the heart via the aorta (that is, in the opposite direction to physiological flow). It does not enter the heart, instead being diverted into the coronary arteries.
2. The working heart configuration, as the name implies, enables study of the heart as it pumps. The perfusate flows through the left atrium and left ventricle in the normal, physiological, direction of flow.

As part of emka TECHNOLOGIES' isolated heart system, the pressure/flow regulator has several useful features. It allows you to:

• regulate flow or pressure in the Langendorff configuration  ("Constant flow" and "Constant pressure" operating modes, respectively)

• regulate pressure in the working heart configuration ("Post-charge" operating mode)

• switch easily and instantly between different solutions (if more than one is used)

• switch easily and instantly between different operating modes. This is a particularly useful feature in working heart experiments: the heart is prepared in constant flow mode, then, once the cannulas are in place, you can switch to the post-charge mode.

The pressure signal and the flow signal arriving at the pressure/flow regulator must be calibrated before the pressure/flow regulator can be used. The setup includes equipment for pressure calibration (manual calibration, using a manometer) and for flow calibration (manual, using a graduated cylinder, or automatic, using a flow calibrator device).