Blood Pump Design Variations and Their Influence on Hydraulic Performance and Indicators of Hemocompatibility

Patients with ventricular assist devices still suffer from high rates of adverse events. Since many of these complications are linked to the flow field within the pump, optimization of the device geometry is essential. To investigate design aspects that influence the flow field, we developed a centrifugal blood pump using industrial guidelines. We then systematically varied selected design parameters and investigated their effects on hemodynamics and hydraulic performance using computational fluid dynamics. We analysed the flow fields based on Eulerian and Lagrangian features, shear stress histograms and six indicators of hemocompatibility. Within the investigated range of clearance gaps (50–500 µm), number of impeller blades (4–7), and semi-open versus closed shroud design, we found association of potentially damaging shear stress conditions with larger gap size and more blades. The extent of stagnation and recirculation zones was reduced with lower numbers of blades and a semi-open impeller, but it was increased with smaller clearance. The Lagrangian hemolysis index, a metric commonly applied to estimate blood damage, showed a negative correlation with hydraulic efficiency and no correlation with the Eulerian threshold-based metric.

[1]  Axel Haverich,et al.  First implantation in man of a new magnetically levitated left ventricular assist device (HeartMate III). , 2015, The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation.

[2]  Gábor Janiga,et al.  Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Design Optimization Method for Archimedes Screw Blood Pumps. , 2016, Artificial organs.

[3]  James F. Antaki,et al.  Computational Fluid Dynamics-Based Design Optimization for an Implantable Miniature Maglev Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device , 2012 .

[4]  Robert L Kormos,et al.  Seventh INTERMACS annual report: 15,000 patients and counting. , 2015, The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation.

[5]  C Bludszuweit,et al.  Three-dimensional numerical prediction of stress loading of blood particles in a centrifugal pump. , 1995, Artificial organs.

[6]  Marcus Hormes,et al.  Comparison of hydraulic and hemolytic properties of different impeller designs of an implantable rotary blood pump by computational fluid dynamics. , 2004, Artificial organs.

[7]  E. W. Errill.  Rheology of blood. , 1969, Physiological reviews.

[8]  M. Meboldt,et al.  Control of the Fluid Viscosity in a Mock Circulation , 2018, Artificial organs.

[9]  M. A. Rezaienia,et al.  The Effect of Geometry on the Efficiency and Hemolysis of Centrifugal Implantable Blood Pumps , 2017, ASAIO journal.

[10]  Kyung Hyun Ahn,et al.  Parametric study of blade tip clearance, flow rate, and impeller speed on blood damage in rotary blood pump. , 2009, Artificial organs.

[11]  Katharine H Fraser,et al.  The use of computational fluid dynamics in the development of ventricular assist devices. , 2011, Medical engineering & physics.

[12]  Alberto Redaelli,et al.  Blood damage safety of prosthetic heart valves. Shear-induced platelet activation and local flow dynamics: a fluid-structure interaction approach. , 2009, Journal of biomechanics.

[13]  William R Wagner,et al.  Elimination of adverse leakage flow in a miniature pediatric centrifugal blood pump by computational fluid dynamics-based design optimization. , 2005, ASAIO journal.

[14]  J.,et al.  Whitaker Lecture : Biorheology in Thrombosis Research , 2022 .

[15]  Akbar Rahideh,et al.  Optimization of Centrifugal Pump Characteristic Dimensions for Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices , 2016, ASAIO journal.

[16]  J. D. Hellums,et al.  1993 Whitaker lecture: Biorheology in thrombosis research , 1994, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[17]  James F Antaki,et al.  Computational fluid dynamics analysis of blade tip clearances on hemodynamic performance and blood damage in a centrifugal ventricular assist device. , 2009, Artificial organs.

[18]  Lino Guzzella,et al.  A Novel Interface for Hybrid Mock Circulations to Evaluate Ventricular Assist Devices , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[19]  L V McIntire,et al.  Mechanical trauma in leukocytes. , 1977, The Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine.

[20]  Klaus Affeld,et al.  Numerical Analysis of Blood Damage Potential of the HeartMate II and HeartWare HVAD Rotary Blood Pumps. , 2015, Artificial organs.

[21]  Ivan Netuka,et al.  HeartMate 3 Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device for the Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure -1 Year Results from the CE Mark Trial , 2016 .

[22]  Tao Zhang,et al.  A quantitative comparison of mechanical blood damage parameters in rotary ventricular assist devices: shear stress, exposure time and hemolysis index. , 2012, Journal of biomechanical engineering.

[23]  Umberto Morbiducci,et al.  Numerical simulation of the dynamics of a bileaflet prosthetic heart valve using a fluid-structure interaction approach. , 2008, Journal of biomechanics.

[24]  K. B. Chandran,et al.  Towards Non-thrombogenic Performance of Blood Recirculating Devices , 2010, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[25]  J. Moake,et al.  Acquired von Willebrand syndrome associated with left ventricular assist device. , 2016, Blood.

[26]  Katharine H Fraser,et al.  Evaluation of Eulerian and Lagrangian Models for Hemolysis Estimation , 2012, ASAIO journal.

[27]  André Garon,et al.  Fast three-dimensional numerical hemolysis approximation. , 2004, Artificial organs.

[28]  L P Chua,et al.  Numerical investigation of the effect of blade geometry on blood trauma in a centrifugal blood pump. , 2002, Artificial organs.

[29]  Steven Deutsch,et al.  Correlation of In Vivo Clot Deposition With the Flow Characteristics in the 50 cc Penn State Artificial Heart: A Preliminary Study , 2004, ASAIO journal.

[30]  Kiyohito Tani,et al.  CFD-Based Design Optimization for Hydro Turbines , 2007 .

[31]  U. Steinseifer,et al.  Multivariate Assessment of the Effect of Pump Design and Pump Gap Design Parameters on Blood Trauma. , 2016, Artificial organs.

[32]  R. Opitz,et al.  A Couette viscometer for short time shearing of blood. , 1980, Biorheology.

[33]  J F Antaki,et al.  Microhaemodynamics within the blade tip clearance of a centrifugal turbodynamic blood pump , 2008, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine.