Abstract
Wave membrane blood pumps (WMBP) are novel pump designs in which blood is propelled by means of wave propagation by an undulating membrane. In this paper, we computationally studied the performance of a new WMBP design (J-shaped) for different working conditions, in view of potential applications in human patients. Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations were conducted in 3D pump geometries and numerically discretized by means of the extended finite element method (XFEM). A contact model was introduced to capture membrane-wall collisions in the pump head. Mean flow rate and membrane envelope were determined to evaluate hydraulic performance. A preliminary hemocompatibility analysis was performed via calculation of fluid shear stress. Numerical results, validated against in vitro experimental data, showed that the hydraulic output increases when either the frequency or the amplitude of membrane oscillations were higher, with limited increase in the fluid stresses, suggesting good hemocompatibility properties. Also, we showed better performance in terms of hydraulic power with respect to a previous design of the pump. We finally studied an operating point which achieves physiologic flow rate target at diastolic head pressure of 80 mmHg. A new design of WMBP was computationally studied. The proposed FSI model with contact was employed to predict the new pump hydraulic performance and it could help to properly select an operating point for the upcoming first-in-human trials.
Highlights
As the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise over time with aging of the population,[51] left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are life-sustaining therapeutic options that offer mechanical circulatory support in end-stage patients.[2]
(3) perform a parametric analysis to study the sensitivity of the solution on each operating parameter (‘‘Parametric Analysis’’ section); (4) assess preliminary indications about hemocompatibility properties of the pump (‘‘Hemocompatibility Analysis’’ section); (5) study of a new operating point at diastolic head pressure, in view of potential wave membrane blood pumps (WMBPs) application in human patients (‘‘Nominal Operating Conditions’’ section)
In order to assess the potential of inducing insidepump hemolysis and thrombosis, we reported in Table 6 the statistics of rscalar and wall shear stress (WSS) for all operating points
Summary
As the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise over time with aging of the population,[51] left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are life-sustaining therapeutic options that offer mechanical circulatory support in end-stage patients.[2] In particular, LVADs could act as a temporary bridge to heart transplantation[5] or as a destination therapy in patients that are not eligible for transplantation.[3,49] LVADs have to meet many requirements in terms of device implantability,[11,15,32] durability,[17,53] hydraulic power[29,36] and hemocompatibility.[6,39] All currently available LVADs are rotary blood pumps They are small and reliable devices equipped with an internal impeller, which propels blood by rotating at elevated velocities, exerting high stresses on blood cells.[24,48]. The pump hydraulic output of WMBPs can be regulated by manipulating the membrane wave frequency and amplitude, potentially adapting to patient specific demands, possibly mimicking the pulsatility of the native heart.[12]
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