Computational flow study of the continuous flow ventricular assist device, prototype number 3 blood pump

Optimization of a centrifugal blood pump designed using an industrial method through experimental and numerical study

With improved treatment of coronary artery disease, more patients are surviving until heart failure occurs. This leads to an increase in patients needing devices for struggling with heart failure. Ventricular assist devices are known as the mainstay of these devices. This study aimed to design a centrifugal pump as a ventricular assist device. In order to design the pump, firstly, the geometrical parameters of the pump, including the gap distance, blade height, and position of the outlet relative to the blade, were investigated. Finally, the selected configuration, which had all the appropriate characteristics, both hydraulically and physiologically, was used for the rest of the study. The study of the blade, as the main component in energy transfer to the blood, in a centrifugal pump, has been considered in the present study. In this regard, the point-to-point design method, which is used in industrial applications, was implemented. The designer chooses the relationship between the blade angles at each radius in the point-to-point method. The present study selected logarithmic and second-order relations for designing the blade's profile. In total, 58 blades were examined in this study, which differed regarding blade inlet and outlet angles and the relationship between angle and radial position. ANSYS CFX 17.0 software was utilized to simulate blades' performances, and a benchmark pump provided by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was used to validate the numerical simulations. Then, the selected impeller from the numerical investigation was manufactured, and its performance was compared experimentally with the FDA benchmark pump. A hydraulic test rig was also developed for experimental studies. The results showed that among the blades designed in this study, the blade with an input angle of 45° and an output angle of 55°, which is designed to implement a logarithmic relationship, has the best performance. The selected impeller configuration can increase the total head (at least by 20%) at different flow rates compared to the FDA pump.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Turbulence Model and Experimental Study for a Fontan Cavopulmonary Assist Device

Head-flow HQ curves for a Fontan cavopulmonary assist device (CPAD) were measured using a blood surrogate in a mock circulatory loop and simulated with various computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The tests benchmarked the CFD tools for further enhancement of the CPAD design. Recommended Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) CFD approaches for the development of conventional ventricular assist devices (VAD) were found to have shortcomings when applied to the Fontan CPAD, which is designed to neutralize off-condition obstruction risks that could contribute to a major adverse event. The no-obstruction condition is achieved with a von Karman pump, utilizing large clearances and small blade heights, which challenge conventional VAD RANS-based CFD hemodynamic simulations. High-fidelity large eddy simulation (LES) is always recommended; however, this may be cost-inhibitive for optimization studies in commercial settings, thus the reliance on RANS models. This study compares head and power predictions of various RANS turbulence models, employing experimental measurements and LES results as a basis for comparison. The models include standard k-ϵ, re-normalization group k-ϵ, realizable k-ϵ, shear stress transport (SST) k-ω, SST with transitional turbulence, and Generalized k-ω. For the pressure head predictions, it was observed that the standard k-ϵ model provided far better agreement with experiment. For the rotor torque, k-ϵ predictions were 30% lower than LES, while the SST and LES torque values were near identical. For the Fontan CPAD, the findings support using LES for the final design simulations, k-ϵ model for head and general flow simulation, and SST for power, shear stress, hemolysis, and thrombogenicity predictions.

Numerical assessment of hemodynamic perspectives of a left ventricular assist device and subsequent proposal for improvisation

Due to the unavailability of donors, the use of left ventricular assist devices has emerged to be a reliable line of alternative treatment for heart failure. However, ventricular assist devices (VAD) have been associated with several postoperative complications such as thrombosis, hemolysis, etc. Despite considerable improvements in technology, blood trauma due to high shear stress generation has been a major concern that is largely related to the geometrical feature of the VAD. This study aims to establish the design process of a centrifugal pump by considering several variations in the geometrical feature of a base design using the commercial solver ANSYS-CFX. To capture the uncertain behavior of blood as fluid, Newtonian, as well as non-Newtonian (Bird-Carreau model), models are used for flow field prediction. To assess the possibility of blood damage maximum wall shear stress and hemolysis index have been estimated for each operating point. The results of the simulations yield an optimized design of the pump based on parameters like pressure head generation, maximum shear stress, hydraulic efficiency, and hemolysis index. Further, the design methodology and the steps of development discussed in the paper can serve as a guideline for developing small centrifugal pumps handling blood.

COMPUTATIONAL STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A CENTRIFUGAL LVAD WITH THE IMPELLER DESIGNED BY INDUSTRIAL METHOD: PROPOSING SIMPLE-TO-MANUFACTURE LVAD’S IMPELLERS

Although the demand of donor hearts for patients with end-stage heart failure is growing, its supply has remained constant. Ventricular assist devices (VADs) provide a chance of finding donor heart by increasing waiting period. In this study, the main goal is to employ an industrial method (point-by-point method) for designing blades profile with a simplified geometry which can be produced by conventional manufacturing methods. In this study, a centrifugal continuous-flow rotary pump is designed and the effects of components’ different geometries on the left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) function are investigated. Moreover, both hydraulic performance and blood damages (hemolysis index (HI)) caused by the pump are considered as design criteria. ANSYS CFX 17 is used to analyze the performance of the designed LVAD. Additionally, the geometry of components are investigated based on fulfilling the required performance of the LVAD while reducing the blood damage level. Comparing the designed VAD with the commercial ones shows that the designed blade further improves the performance of the centrifugal LVAD. Therefore, designing the impeller’s blade profile with point-by-point method seems to be promising. Simplicity in manufacturing is considered to be a big advantage for a design which also leads to lower manufacturing costs. This study demonstrates how industrial design methods can be employed to design simple-to-manufacture impellers which are suitable for LVADs.

On the effects of membrane viscosity on transient red blood cell dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is currently used to design and improve the hydraulic properties of biomedical devices, wherein the large scale blood circulation needs to be simulated by accounting for the mechanical response of red blood cells (RBCs) at the mesoscale. In many practical instances, biomedical devices work on time-scales comparable to the intrinsic relaxation time of RBCs: thus, a systematic understanding of the time-dependent response of erythrocyte membranes is crucial for the effective design of such devices. So far, this information has been deduced from experimental data, which do not necessarily adapt to the broad variety of fluid dynamic conditions that can be encountered in practice. This work explores the novel possibility of studying the time-dependent response of an erythrocyte membrane to external mechanical loads via mesoscale numerical simulations, with a primary focus on the detailed characterisation of the RBC relaxation time tc following the arrest of the external mechanical load. The adopted mesoscale model exploits a hybrid Immersed Boundary-Lattice Boltzmann Method (IB-LBM), coupled with the Standard Linear Solid (SLS) model to account for the RBC membrane viscosity. We underscore the key importance of the 2D membrane viscosity μm to correctly reproduce the relaxation time of the RBC membrane. A detailed assessment of the dependencies on the typology and strength of the applied mechanical loads is also provided. Overall, our findings open interesting future perspectives for the study of the non-linear response of RBCs immersed in time-dependent strain fields.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Validation of Swirling Flow in Spiral Vortex Ventricular Assist Device

Spiral Vortex Ventricular Assist Device (SV-VAD) supports cardiac patients with refractory heart failure. Unfortunately, thrombus formation and risk of stroke due to flow complications may lead to aggravated conditions. The hemodynamics of a continuous flow in the ventricular chamber of a SV-VAD can be analyzed using numerical simulation. Particle image velocimetry and laser Doppler anemometry are utilized for validating the simulated spiral flow in a transparent acrylic SV-VAD replica based on its cross-sectional averaged axial and tangential velocities. After validation, the relationship between swirling flow and blood cell damage is established by evaluating flow effect on thrombosis due to high shear stress. Based on our analysis, stagnancy of the flow within the SV-VAD is insignificant and its low shear stress minimizes hemolysis.

Mechanical axial flow blood pump to support cavopulmonary circulation

We are developing a collapsible, percutaneously inserted, axial flow blood pump to support the cavopulmonary circulation in infants with a failing single ventricle physiology. An initial design of the impeller for this axial flow blood pump was performed using computational fluid dynamics analysis, including pressure-flow characteristics, scalar stress estimations, blood damage indices, and fluid force predictions. A plastic prototype was constructed for hydraulic performance testing, and these experimental results were compared with the numerical predictions. The numerical predictions and experimental findings of the pump performance demonstrated a pressure generation of 2–16 mm Hg for 50–750 ml/min over 5,500–7,500 RPM with deviation found at lower rotational speeds. The axial fluid forces remained below 0.1 N, and the radial fluid forces were determined to be virtually zero due to the centered impeller case. The scalar stress levels remained below 250 Pa for all operating conditions. Blood damage analysis yielded a mean residence time of the released particles, which was found to be less than 0.4 seconds for both flow rates that were examined, and a maximum residence time was determined to be less than 0.8 seconds. We are in the process of designing a cage with hydrodynamically shaped filament blades to act as a diffuser and optimizing the impeller blade shape to reduce the flow vorticity at the pump outlet. This blood pump will improve the clinical treatment of patients with failing Fontan physiology and provide a unique catheter-based therapeutic approach as a bridge to recovery or transplantation.

Design of a Continuous Flow Centrifugal Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device

Thousands of pediatric patients suffering from cardiomyopathy or single ventricular physiologies secondary to debilitating heart defects may benefit from long-term mechanical circulatory support due to the limited number of donor hearts available. This article presents the initial design of a fully implantable centrifugal pediatric ventricular assist device (PVAD) for 2 to 12 year olds. Conventional pump design equations, including a nondimensional scaling approach, enabled performance estimations of smaller scale versions (25 mm and 35 mm impeller diameters) of our adult support VAD. Based on this estimated performance, a computational model of the PVAD with a 35 mm impeller diameter was generated. Employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, the flow paths through the PVAD and overall performance were analyzed for steady state flow conditions. The numerical simulations involved flow rates of 2 to 5 LPM for rotational speeds of 2750 to 3250 RPM and incorporated a k-epsilon fluid turbulence model with a logarithmic wall function to characterize near-wall flow conditions. The CFD results indicated best efficiency points ranging from 25% to 28%, which correlate well with typical values of blood pumps. The results further demonstrated that the pump could deliver 2 to 5 LPM at 70 to 95 mmHg for desired physiologic conditions in resting 2 to 12 year olds. Scalar stress levels remained below 300 Pa, thereby signifying potentially low levels of hemolysis. Several flow regions in the pump exhibited signs of vortices, retrograde flow, and stagnation points, which require optimization and further study. This CFD model represents a reasonable starting point for future model enhancements, leading to prototype manufacturing and experimental validation.

Comparison and experimental validation of fluid dynamic numerical models for a clinical ventricular assist device

With the recent advances in computer technology, computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) has become an important tool to design and improve blood-contacting artificial organs, and to study the device-induced blood damage. Commercial CFD software packages are readily available, and multiple CFD models are provided by CFD software developers. However, the best approach of using CFD effectively to characterize fluid flow and to predict blood damage in these medical devices remains debatable. This study aimed to compare these CFD models and provide useful information on the accuracy of each model in modeling blood flow in circulatory assist devices. The laminar and five turbulence models (Spalart-Allmaras, k-ε (k-epsilon), k-ω (k-omega), SST [Menter's Shear Stress Transport], and Reynolds Stress) were implemented to predict blood flow in a clinically used circulatory assist device, the CentriMag centrifugal blood pump. In parallel, a transparent replica of the CentriMag pump was constructed and selected views of the flow fields were measured with digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). CFD results were compared with the DPIV experimental results. Compared with the experiment, all the selected CFD models predicted the flow pattern fairly well except the area of the outlet. However, quantitatively, the laminar model results were the most deviated from the experimental data. On the other hand, k-ε renormalization group theory models and Reynolds Stress model are the most accurate. In conclusion, for the circulatory assist devices, turbulence models provide more accurate results than the laminar model. Among the selected turbulence models, k-ε and Reynolds Stress Method models are recommended.

Effect of LVAD outlet graft anastomosis angle on the aortic valve, wall, and flow

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), which pump blood from the left ventricle to the aorta are an important therapy option for patients with end-stage cardiovascular diseases. Recent publications show that even with optimized LVADs fatal complications can occur because of the blood deformations around the inflow cannula or through the LVAD outlet graft-aorta anastomosis. This study investigates the effects of the anastomosis geometry on the flow through the aorta, on the pressure and wall shear stress (WSS) distributions on the aortic wall and on the total entropy generation in the anastomosis region. Anastomosis geometry is defined with two angles, one on the coronal plane and the other on the transversal plane. Turbulent flow simulations are performed for each geometry. Results indicate that 3% to 5% of the work given by the LVAD is dissipated because of the viscous losses in the anastomosis region. The entropy generation, as well as the maximum WSS, increases as the inclination angle decreases. Some portion of the blood streaming out of the LVAD conduit flows toward the aortic valve; therefore the reverse-flow region extends up to the aortic valve in some cases, which may be one of the causes of aortic-valve dysfunction. Results of this study provide insight on the importance of the anastomosis geometry on the hemodynamics in the aorta and downstream the aortic valve, stresses on the aortic wall, and viscous losses.

Design Optimization of a Wearable Artificial Pump-Lung Device With Computational Modeling

The heart-lung machine has commonly been used to replace the functions of both the heart and lungs during open heart surgeries or implemented as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to provide cardiopulmonary support of the heart and lungs. The traditional heart-lung system consists of multiple components and is bulky. It can only be used for relatively short-term support. The concept of the wearable artificial pump-lung is to combine the functions of the blood pumping and gas transfer in a single, compact unit for cardiopulmonary or respiratory support for patients suffering from cardiac failure or respiratory failure, or both, and to allow patients to be ambulatory. To this end, a wearable artificial lung (APL) device is being developed by integrating a magnetically levitated centrifugal impeller with a hollow fiber membrane bundle. In this study, we utilized a computational fluid dynamics based performance optimization with a heuristic scheme to derive geometrical design parameters for the wearable APL device. The configuration and dimensions of the impeller and the diffuser, the required surface area of fiber membranes and the overall geometrical dimensions of the blood flow path of the APL device were considered. The design optimization was iterated based on the fluid dynamic objective parameters (pressure head, pressure distribution, axial force acting on the impeller, shear stress), blood damage potential (hemolysis and platelet activation), and mass transfer (oxygen partial pressure and saturation). Through the design optimization, an optimized APL device was computationally derived. A physical prototype of the designed APL device was fabricated and tested in vitro. The experimental data showed that the optimized APL can provide adequate blood pumping and oxygen transfer over the range of intended operating conditions.

The use of computational fluid dynamics in the development of ventricular assist devices

Progress in the field of prosthetic cardiovascular devices has significantly contributed to the rapid advancements in cardiac therapy during the last four decades. The concept of mechanical circulatory assistance was established with the first successful clinical use of heart-lung machines for cardiopulmonary bypass. Since then a variety of devices have been developed to replace or assist diseased components of the cardiovascular system. Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are basically mechanical pumps designed to augment or replace the function of one or more chambers of the failing heart. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an attractive tool in the development process of VADs, allowing numerous different designs to be characterized for their functional performance virtually, for a wide range of operating conditions, without the physical device being fabricated. However, VADs operate in a flow regime which is traditionally difficult to simulate; the transitional region at the boundary of laminar and turbulent flow. Hence different methods have been used and the best approach is debatable. In addition to these fundamental fluid dynamic issues, blood consists of biological cells. Device-induced biological complications are a serious consequence of VAD use. The complications include blood damage (haemolysis, blood cell activation), thrombosis and emboli. Patients are required to take anticoagulation medication constantly which may cause bleeding. Despite many efforts blood damage models have still not been implemented satisfactorily into numerical analysis of VADs, which severely undermines the full potential of CFD. This paper reviews the current state of the art CFD for analysis of blood pumps, including a practical critical review of the studies to date, which should help device designers choose the most appropriate methods; a summary of blood damage models and the difficulties in implementing them into CFD; and current gaps in knowledge and areas for future work.

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of blade tip clearances on hemodynamic performance and blood damage in a centrifugal ventricular assist device

An important challenge facing the design of turbodynamic ventricular assist devices (VADs) intended for long-term support is the optimization of the flow path geometry to maximize hydraulic performance while minimizing shear-stress-induced hemolysis and thrombosis. For unshrouded centrifugal, mixed-flow and axial-flow blood pumps, the complex flow patterns within the blade tip clearance between the lengthwise upper surface of the rotating impeller blades and the stationary pump housing have a dramatic effect on both the hydrodynamic performance and the blood damage production. Detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses were performed in this study to investigate such flow behavior in blade tip clearance region for a centrifugal blood pump representing a scaled-up version of a prototype pediatric VAD. Nominal flow conditions were analyzed at a flow rate of 2.5 L/min and rotor speed of 3000 rpm with three blade tip clearances of 50, 100, and 200 microm. CFD simulations predicted a decrease in the averaged tip leakage flow rate and an increase in pump head and axial thrust with decreasing blade tip clearances from 200 to 50 microm. The predicted hemolysis, however, exhibited a unimodal relationship, having a minimum at 100 microm compared to 50 microm and 200 microm. Experimental data corroborate these predictions. Detailed flow patterns observed in this study revealed interesting fluid dynamic features associated with the blade tip clearances, such as the generation and dissipation of tip leakage vortex and its interaction with the primary flow in the blade-blade passages. Quantitative calculations suggested the existence of an optimal blade tip clearance by which hydraulic efficiency can be maximized and hemolysis minimized.

Microhaemodynamics within the blade tip clearance of a centrifugal turbodynamic blood pump

A persistent challenge facing the quantitative design of turbodynamic blood pumps is the great disparity of spatial scales between the primary and auxiliary flow paths. Fluid passages within journals and adjacent to the blade tips are often on the scale of several blood cells, confounding the application of macroscopic continuum models. Yet, precisely in these regions there exists the highest shear stress, which is most likely to cause cellular trauma. This disparity has motivated these microscopic studies to visualize the kinematics of the blood cells within the small clearances of a miniature turbodynamic blood pump. A transparent model of a miniature centrifugal pump having an adjustable tip clearance (50-200 microm) was prepared for direct optical visualization of the region between the impeller blade tip and the stationary housing. Synchronized images of the blood cells were obtained by a microscopic visualization system, consisting of an inverted microscope fitted with long-working-distance objective lens (40x), mercury lamp, and high-resolution charge-coupled device camera electronically triggered by the rotation of the impeller. Experiments with 7 microm fluorescent particles revealed the influence of the gap dimension on the trajectory across the blade thickness. The lateral component of velocity (perpendicular to the blade) was dramatically enhanced in the 50 microm gap compared with the 200 microm gap, thereby reducing the exposure time. Studies with diluted bovine blood (Ht = 0.5 per cent) showed that the concentration of cells traversing the gap is also reduced dramatically (30 per cent) as the blade tip clearance is reduced from 200 microm to 50 microm. These results motivate further investigation into the microfluidic phenomena responsible for cellular trauma within turbodynamic blood pumps.

Computational fluid dynamics investigation of a centrifugal blood pump

In the development of a ventricular assist device, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is an efficient tool to obtain the best design before making the final prototype. In this study, different designs of a centrifugal blood pump were developed to investigate flow characteristics and performance. This study assumed the blood flow as being an incompressible homogeneous Newtonian fluid. A constant velocity was applied at the inlet; no slip boundary conditions were applied at device wall; and pressure boundary conditions were applied at the outlet. The CFD code used in this work was based on the finite volume method. In the future, the results of CFD analysis can be compared with flow visualization and hemolysis tests.

Numerical Analysis of the Inner Flow Field of a Biocentrifugal Blood Pump

Implantable ventricular assist devices have been regarded as a promising instrument in the clinical treatment of patients with severe heart failures. In this article, a three-dimensional model of the Kyoto-NTN magnetically suspended centrifugal blood pump was generated and a computational fluid dynamics solution of the inner flow field of the pump including the static pressure distributions, velocity profiles, and the shear stress distributions of the blood was presented. The results revealed that reverse flow generally occurred in the impeller blade channels during the operation of the pump, due to the imbalance of the flow and the pressure gradient generated in the blade channels. The flow pattern at the exit of the blade channels was varying with its angular positions in the pump. The reverse flow at the exit of the impeller blade channels was found to be closely related with the static pressure distribution in the volute passage. Higher pressure in the volute caused severe backflow from the volute into the blade channels. To clarify the effects of a moving impeller on the blood, shear stresses of the blood in the pump were investigated according to the simulation results. The studies indicated that at the beginning of the splitter plate and the cutwater, the highest shear stress exceeded 700 Pa. At other regions such as the inlet and outlet of the impeller blade channels and some regions in the volute passage, shear stresses were found to be about 200 Pa. These areas are believed to have a high possibility of rendering blood trauma.

Evaluation of a pumping assist lung that uses a rotating fiber bundle

A paracorporeal respiratory assist lung (PRAL) is being developed for supplemental gas exchange to allow the native lungs of acute lung failure patients to heal. The device consists of a rotating annular microporous hollow fiber membrane bundle. The rotation augments the gas exchange efficiency of the device at constant flow-rate thereby uncoupling gas exchange and flow rate. The rotating fibers also enable the PRAL to pump the blood without the need for an additional pump or arterial cannulation. Blood flow rates will be between 500 and 750 ml/min with CO(2) removal rates of 100-130 ml/min. A prototype was manufactured with an overall surface area of 0.25 m. When rotated at 1500 rpm, CO(2) removal increased by 133% and O(2) transfer increased by 157% during an in vitro bovine blood study. The pumping of the rotating fiber bundle was assessed in a glycerol/water solution. At 1500 rpm, the PRAL generated 750 ml/min against 52 mm Hg pressure. Hemolysis of the device was assessed using in vitro bovine blood from a slaughterhouse. Plasma free hemoglobin levels were similar regardless of whether the rotating fibers were present in the PRAL, indicating that a rotating fiber bundle can be used to increase gas exchange without causing blood trauma.

Computational Design and Experimental Testing of a Novel Axial Flow LVAD

Thousands of cardiac failure patients per year in the United States could benefit from long-term mechanical circulatory support as destination therapy. To provide an improvement over currently available devices, we have designed a fully implantable axial-flow ventricular assist device with a magnetically levitated impeller (LEV-VAD). In contrast to currently available devices, the LEV-VAD has an unobstructed blood flow path and no secondary flow regions, generating substantially less retrograde and stagnant flow. The pump design included the extensive use of conventional pump design equations and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling for predicting pressure-flow curves, hydraulic efficiencies, scalar fluid stress levels, exposure times to such stress, and axial fluid forces exerted on the impeller for the suspension design. Flow performance testing was completed on a plastic prototype of the LEV-VAD for comparison with the CFD predictions. Animal fit trials were completed to determine optimum pump location and cannulae configuration for future acute and long-term animal implantations, providing additional insight into the LEV-VAD configuration and implantability. Per the CFD results, the LEV-VAD produces 6 l/min and 100 mm Hg at a rotational speed of approximately 6300 rpm for steady flow conditions. The pressure-flow performance predictions demonstrated the VAD's ability to deliver adequate flow over physiologic pressures for reasonable rotational speeds with best efficiency points ranging from 25% to 30%. The CFD numerical estimations generally agree within 10% of the experimental measurements over the entire range of rotational speeds tested. Animal fit trials revealed that the LEV-VAD's size and configuration were adequate, requiring no alterations to cannulae configurations for future animal testing. These acceptable performance results for LEV-VAD design support proceeding with manufacturing of a prototype for extensive mock loop and initial acute animal testing.

Computational Fluid Dynamics of Gap Flow in a Biocentrifugal Blood Pump

The centrifugal blood pump with a magnetically suspended impeller has shown its superiority as compared to other artificial heart pumps. However, there is still insufficient understanding of fluid mechanics related issues in the clearance gap. The design nature of the pump requires sufficient washout in the clearance between the impeller and the stationary pump housing inner surface. In this study, numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the flow fields in the gap of the Kyoto-NTN centrifugal blood pump. The flow patterns in the gap region of the blood pump were presented and regions of high and low velocity were identified. It was found that the radial velocity of the blood in the gap was closely related to the pressure distribution at the exit of the impeller, both the highest pressure gradient and the highest radial velocity in the gap occurred at an angular position of 170 degrees . The mass flow rate in the gap was estimated to be 25.2% of the pump outflow, which is close to the measurement results of a five times enlarged test pump. The wall shear stresses on the gap surface were found to be over 21 Pa and below 300 Pa, which is correspondingly higher than the threshold of thrombi formation and is lower than the shearing threshold of red blood cells. Comparison of the 1 : 1 simulation model with the measurement results on a five times enlarged test pump indicates that there are some differences in the resulting radial velocity distributions in the gap and thus the washout mechanism. Two symmetrical high washout regions at both the cutwater and splitter plate were observed in the simulation instead of a single washout region at the splitter plate found in the experimental study. This may be due to the scaling effect of the enlarged test pump; also the medium used in the experiment is different from the simulation.

Inlet and outlet devices for rotary blood pumps

The purposes of inlet and outlet devices for rotary blood pumps, including inducers and diffusers for axial pumps, inlet and exit volutes for centrifugal pumps, and inlet and outlet cannulas, are to guide the blood into the impeller, where the blood is accelerated, and to convert the high kinetic energy into pressure after the impeller discharge, respectively. The designs of the inlet and outlet devices have an important bearing on the pump performance. Their designs are highly dependent on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, guided by intuition and experience. For inlet devices, the design objectives are to eliminate separated flow, to minimize recirculation, and to equalize the radial components of velocity. For outlet devices, the design goals are to reduce speed, to minimize energy loss, and to avoid flow separation and whirl. CFD analyses indicate the velocity field and pressure distribution. Geometrical optimization of these components has been implemented in order to improve the flow pattern.

Transient and quasi-steady computational fluid dynamics study of a left ventricular assist device

The HeartQuest continuous flow left ventricle assist device (LVAD) with a magnetically levitated impeller operates under highly transient flow conditions. Due to insertion of the in-flow cannula into the apex of the left ventricle, the inlet flow rate is transient because of ventricular contraction, and the pump's asymmetric circumferential configuration with five rotating blades forces blood intermittently through the pump to the great arteries. These two transient conditions correspond to time varying boundary conditions and transient rotational sliding interfaces in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD was used to investigate the pump's performance under these dynamic flow conditions. A quasi-steady analysis was also conducted to evaluate the difference between the steady and transient analyses and demonstrate the significance of transient analysis, especially for transient rotational sliding interfaces transient simulations. This transient flow analysis can be applied generally in the design process of LVADs; it provides more reliable fluid forces and moments on the impeller for successful design of the magnetic suspension system and motor.

A Tensor-based Measure for Estimating Blood Damage

Implantable ventricular assist devices give hope of a permanent clinical solution to heart failure. These devices, both pulsatile- and continuous-flow, are presently used as medium-term bridge to heart transplant or recovery. While long-term use of continuous-flow axial and centrifugal pumps is being explored, the excessive level of blood damage in these devices has emerged as a design challenge. Blood damage depends both on shear stress and exposure time, and device designers have relied traditionally on global space- and time-averaged estimates from experimental studies to make design decisions. Measuring distributions of shear stress levels and the blood cell's exposure to these conditions in complex rotary pump flow is difficult. On the other hand, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is now being used as a tool for designing viable devices, offering more detailed information about the flow field. A tensor-based blood damage model for CFD analysis is proposed here. The model estimates the time- and space-dependent strain experienced by individual blood cells and correlates it to blood damage data from steady shear flow experiments. The blood cells are modeled as deforming droplets and their deformation is tracked along the pathlines of a computed flow. The model predicts that blood cells in a rapidly fluctuating shear flow can sustain high shear stress levels for very short exposure time without deforming considerably. In the context of mechanical modeling of the implantable Gyro blood pump being developed at Baylor College of Medicine, this suggests that blood cells traversing regions of highly fluctuating shear stress rapidly may not hemolyze significantly.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Study of the 4th Generation Prototype of a Continuous Flow Ventricular Assist Device (VAD)

The continuous flow ventricular assist device (VAD) is a miniature centrifugal pump, fully suspended by magnetic bearings, which is being developed for implantation in humans. The CF4 model is the first actual prototype of the final design product. The overall performances of blood flow in CF4 have been simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software: CFX, which is commercially available from ANSYS Inc. The flow regions modeled in CF4 include the inlet elbow, the five-blade impeller, the clearance gap below the impeller, and the exit volute. According to different needs from patients, a wide range of flow rates and revolutions per minute (RPM) have been studied. The flow rate-pressure curves are given. The streamlines in the flow field are drawn to detect stagnation points and vortices that could lead to thrombosis. The stress is calculated in the fluid field to estimate potential hemolysis. The stress is elevated to the decreased size of the blood flow paths through the smaller pump, but is still within the safe range. The thermal study on the pump, the blood and the surrounding tissue shows the temperature rise due to magnetoelectric heat sources and thermal dissipation is insignificant. CFD simulation proved valuable to demonstrate and to improve the performance of fluid flow in the design of a small size pump.

Computational fluid dynamics modeling of impeller designs for the HeartQuest left ventricular assist device

To finalize the design of the next generation of the HeartQuest left ventricular assist device, a suitable impeller had to be designed and tested. The new prototype was based on calculations and test results of previous designs, but required several changes to decrease the size. For most pump designs, this is a simple matter of altering impeller geometry and rotational speed to achieve the desired pressure rise and flow rate. However, this particular pump was limited by housing geometry and the magnetic bearings that support the impeller. Without much freedom in the overall impeller size, the only parameters open to the designers were the blade profiles and the rotating speed. Rather than build several candidates and test them in a rig at enormous cost, computational models of several designs were tested and analyzed. This not only saved money, but also sped up the development time for the project. The computer models were developed in TASCflow, a computational fluid dynamics software package from AEA Technologies. This paper analyzes the data from several of the selected models, paying close attention to pumping performance and general trends from specific design changes.

Particle image velocimetry measurements of blood velocity in a continuous flow ventricular assist device

The third prototype of a continuous flow ventricular assist device (CFVAD3) is being developed and tested for implantation in humans. The blood in the pump flows through a fully shrouded four-bladed impeller (supported by magnetic bearings) and through small clearance regions on either side of the impeller. Measurements of velocities using particle image velocimetry of a fluid with the same viscosity as blood have been made in one of these clearance regions. Particle image velocimetry is a technique that measures the instantaneous velocity field within an illuminated plane of the fluid field by scattering light from particles added to the fluid. These measurements have been used to improve understanding of the fluid dynamics within these critical regions, which are possible locations of both high shear and stagnation, both of which are to be avoided in a blood pump. Computational models of the pump exist and these models are currently being used to aid in the design of future prototypes. Among other things, these models are used to predict the potential for hemolysis and thrombosis. Measurements of steady flow at two operating speeds and flow rates are presented. The measurements are compared with the computed solutions to validate and refine, where necessary, the existing computational models.

Numerical studies of blood shear and washing in a continuous flow ventricular assist device

The third prototype of a continuous flow ventricular assist device (CF3) is being developed and tested for implantation in humans. The blood in the pump flows through a fully shrouded four bladed impeller (supported by magnetic bearings) and through small clearance regions on either side of the impeller. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions for this flow have been obtained by using TascFlow, a software package available from AEA Technology, UK. These flow solutions have been used to estimate the shear stresses on the blood in the pump and, hence, to minimize hemolysis. In addition, the solutions are informative for achieving a design that will provide good washing of the blood to minimize the possibility of stagnation points that can lead to thrombosis. This study presents numerical studies of these phenomena in the CF3. The calculated shear rate results are compared with values published in the open literature. The comparisons indicate that hemolysis will not be a problem with CF3, which is in agreement with preliminary experimental measurements. Flow studies are being conducted to determine the optimal size of the clearance regions.