Finite element analysis of blood flow characteristics in a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD)

Abstract

The replacement or augmentation of failing human organs with artificial devices and systems has been an important element in health care for several decades. There are a lot of geometrical and flow considerations in the artificial organs that are developed to perform in contact with the blood particles. For example, preventing the stagnation, high pressure and shear regions is an important consideration in artificial organ design. In this paper, the geometrical and boundary conditions for the blood flow in the HeartSaver Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) are studied using the numerical solution of the governing equations. In order to provide the interaction between the blood and the elastic diaphragm and between the blood and the inlet/outlet valves, the Fluid-Structural Interaction (FSI) approach is used in this study. Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) Finite Element Method (FEM) formulation is used for the numerical solution of the flow domain. Blood and the driving fluid are assumed as isothermal, Newtonian, viscose and incompressible fluids. The numerical solution has provided the required characteristics for the evaluation of the performance of the VAD in contact with the realistic flow conditions. Although they present the formation of wakes in the blood chamber, no stagnation points and high shear rate zones are detected in the blood chamber.