Pulse 4.2 Release

On behalf of the Pulse Physiology Community, we are pleased to announce that version 4.2 is now available from our repository.  You can also get the latest version of Pulse for Unity from our asset on the Unity Store. We also provide an Unreal engine plugin with this latest version. The Pulse Explorer has also been updated and can be used to assist development of applications built on this version. 

We have continued to assist companies, universities, and government agencies to integrate Pulse into their projects and product goals. We worked with these users to improve models and functionality for their needs. Highlights of the 4.2 version release include:

Software Architecture Improvements

• iOS build support
• New utility to translate a log file into a scenario
  • Logs now contain json for patient, actions and conditions
• Added Python plotting tools for improved verification, validation, and documentation

Physiology Model Improvements

• Patient variability
  • Added system validation for standard female patients
  • Added optional pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure, and body mass index settings
• Mechanical ventilator:
  • Improved controls, waveforms, triggering, error handling
• Respiratory system:
  • Added hemothorax model
    • Includes cardiovascular effects
    • Includes tube thoracostomy model for relief
  • Added shunting and labored breathing effects to collapsing lung functionality
  • Improved lung collapse (e.g., tension pneumothorax and hemothorax) responses
• Improvements to Intubation
  • Added a severity to control flow
  • Esophageal intubation can now provide some air to lungs via a severity
• Bag-Valve-Mask
  • Automation Support – Set a frequency and pressure to repeat
  • Single Squeeze – Set a pressure for a single squeeze
  • Instantaneous – Set a pressure to apply (Intended for hardware integration)
• Cardiovascular
  • Improved heart driver and cardiac cycle
  • More control to adjust vascular tone
  • Pulmonary capillary coverage adjusts based on Mean Arterial Pressure
• Cardiac Arrest
  • Improved End Tidal Carbon Dioxide Pressure response
  • Improved SpO2 response
  • Improved recovery transition model
• Hemorrhage
  • Improved Baroreceptor response
  • Severity now calculates resistance using compartment inflow average
• CPR
  • Automation Support – Set a frequency and severity or depth to repeat
  • Single Squeeze – Set a severity or depth for a single squeeze
  • Instantaneous – Set a severity or depth to apply (Intended for hardware integration)
• ECMO support
  • End user can adjust substance values and flow rates back into Pulse
  • NOT A MODEL Intended for external users to prescribe flow rates and substance concentrations

In the coming months, we are working to improve and extend Pulse with:

• Sepsis model development
• Dehydration model development
• Continued work on supporting dynamic engine pools for managing multiple pulse engines for real-time/game and research based applications

For more information on our efforts and our users, visit our website or sign up for our newsletter. If you would like to feature your Pulse use case, please email us at kitware@kitware.com.