Investigation of the inherent left-right flow balancing of rotary total artificial hearts by means of a resistance box.

Abstract

With the incidence of end-stage heart failure steadily increasing, the need for a practical total artificial heart (TAH) has never been greater. Continuous flow TAHs (CFTAH) are being developed using rotary blood pumps (RBPs), leveraging their small size, mechanical simplicity, and excellent durability. To completely replace the heart with currently available RBPs, two are required; one for providing pulmonary flow and one for providing systemic flow. To prevent hazardous states, it is essential to maintain balance between the pulmonary and systemic circulation at a wide variety of physiologic states. In this study, we investigated factors determining a CFTAH's inherent ability to balance systemic and pulmonary flow passively, without active management of pump rotational speed. Four different RBPs (ReliantHeart HA5, Thoratec HMII, HeartWare HVAD, and Ventracor VentrAssist) were used in various combinations to construct CFTAHs. Each CFTAH's ability to autonomously maintain pressures and flows within defined ranges was evaluated in a hybrid mock loop as systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) were changed. The resistance box, a method to quantify the range of vascular resistances that can be safely supported by a CFTAH, was used to compare different CFTAH configurations in an efficient and predictive way. To reduce the need for future in vitro tests and to aid in their analysis, a novel analytical evaluation to predict the resistance box of various CFTAH configurations was also performed. None of the investigated CFTAH configurations fully satisfied the predefined benchmarks for inherent flow balancing, with the VentrAssist (left) and HeartAssist 5 (right) offering the best combination. The extent to which each CFTAH was able to autonomously maintain balance was determined by the pressure sensitivity of each RPB: the sensitivity of outflow to changes in the pressure head. The analytical model showed that by matching left and right pressure sensitivity the inherent balancing performance can be improved. These findings may ultimately lead to a reduced need for manual speed changes or active control systems.