This volume is a collection of papers presented at the 26th Annual Scientific Conference of the Biological Engineering Society which brought together workers from a wide range of disciplines, with common interests, to discuss blood flow in artificial organs and cardiovascular prostheses. The possibility of replacing or agumenting the function of organs and structures in the human body has had a dramatic impact on medicine. The use of devices such as blood oxygenators and dialysers - often called artificial lungs and artificial kidneys - has made surgical procedures like major open-heart surgery possible. Implantable replacement heart valves and blood vessels are examples of devices which have extended the clinicians' choice of treatment, and prolonged and improved the quality of patients' lives. The development of these artificial organs and cardiovascular prostheses has been based on interdisciplinary research involving clinicians, engineers and scientists.

Table of Contents:
Influence of haemodynamic factors in improving vascular prosthetic design, D.E.M.Taylor; clinical and laboratory assessment of prosthetic heart valves, D.J.Wheatley; leaflet design and manufacture in pericardial heart valves, J.Fisher et al; the anisotropy of bovine pericardium, J.C.Barbenel et al; "in vitro" study of the function of four size 19mm prosthetic heart valves in the aortic position, J.Fisher et al; the hydrodynamic performance of heart valve substitutes - the importance of standardization, W.B.Tindale and E.A.Trowbridge; investigation into leakage design in prosthetic heart valves, S.E.Leefe et al; changes in pericardial heterograft leaflets "in vivo" - an experimental subcutaneous implantation model, E.A.Trowbridge et al; an isotope imaging technique for limb blood flow measurement and its role in the assessment of arterial bypass grafts, A.Parkin et al; secondary intraventricular flow patterns and fluid mechanics of the mitral valve, J.E.Malcolm and D.E.M.Taylor; thrombosis and artificial surfaces, C.D.Forbes et al; blood-membrane interactions - "in vitro" evaluation of the influence of membrane structure and antithrombotic agents, J.M.Courtney et al; biomaterials and the immune response, M.Travers et al; induced platelet aggregation in blood exposed to biomaterials, K.J.Mynett and J.C.Barbenel; the evaluation of biomaterials and antithrombotic agents in a rat extracorporeal model, L.A.Morrice et al; modification of dacron graft thrombogenicity and porosity by preclotting, S.J.Sheehan et al; first-pass haemolysis in collagen and gelatin impregnated dacron grafts, S.R.Bibby et al; influence of gore-tex aorto-bifemoral grafts on platelet and fibrinogen kinetics, S.R.Bibby et al; biocompatibility studies on new cellulose based and synthetic haemodialysis membranes, C.Woffindin and N.A.Hoenich; the influence of vortex mixing on the performance of artificial organs, B.J.Bellhouse; modelling of gas exchange oxygenators, P.J.D.Mayes et al; the effect of the cell-free layer on the rate of oxygen transfer in a membrance oxygenator, A.R.Veitch et al; blood viscosity and cell deformability, G.D.O.Lowe; the temporal variation in platelet count and volume after open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, E.A.Trowbridge et al; whole blood viscosity measurement using a capillary tube viscometer, A.C.Fisher and A.Harvey; an adaptive system for the determination of red cell volume distributions by coulter counting, A.C.Fisher and T.C.Fisher; the variation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate with red cell concentration, R.H.Smallwood et al; a re-assessment of whole blood viscosity in Raynaud's Phenomenon, O.Khan et al; some difficulties in the measurement of whole-blood viscosities by means of certain rotational instruments, R.A.Black et al; steady non-Newtonian flow through tapered tubes, R.A.Black et al; flow distribution in membrane oxygenators, R.Barthelemy and J.P.Esquerre.