Low haemolysis pulsatile impeller pump: design concepts and experimental results

Abstract

A pulsatile fully implantable impeller pump with low haemolysis has been produced by developing a pulsatile impeller for a nonpulsatile pump also developed in this laboratory. The impeller was designed according to the 3-dimensional theory of fluid dynamics. The impeller shroud retains the same parabolic form and the vane has a form compacted by a radial logarithmic spiral and an axial helical spiral so that the absolute vibration velocity of the blood in a peripheral direction is a minimum as the impellar changes its speed periodically to generate a physiological pulsatile blood flow. Thus the Reynolds shear and the Newton shear are a minimum for the required pulse pressure. The mean volume and mean pressure are controlled by adjusting the voltage. The shape of the pressure pulse is determined by a square was of vollage and the systole/diastole ratio. In order to abolish regurgitation of the pump, a 40 per cent systole period and a 5 V voltage pulse are desirable for 40 mmHg pulse pressure (80–120 mmHg mean pressure). The pulse frequency has almost no effect on pump output. The pump can delivery 4 l/min mean volume and 100 mmHg mean pressure (40 mmHg pulse pressure), and these conditions result in an index of heamolysis (IH) for porcine blood of 0.020—only slighly more than the nonpulsatile pump (0.016). When the pulsatile impeller was used under nonpulsatile conditions its IH was almost doubled, but when the nonpulsatile impeller was used under pulsatile conditions the IH reached 0.13. The power consumption is approximately equal to that for the nonpulsatile pump: 3 W for 4 l/min and 100 mmHg output. The pump weights 240 g (including 190 g for the motor) and, because a commercial motor has been used, costs only a few hundred US dollars.