Recent advances in the application of computational fluid dynamics in the development of rotary blood pumps

Abstract

In recent years, ventricular assist devices (VADs, also known as blood pumps) have gradually entered clinical practice and provide effective treatment for heart failure patients. However, adverse events related to mechanical blood damage in patients receiving the VAD treatment, were often reported and have become a major concern during the development of VADs, limiting their clinical and economic benefits. Compared with bench and in-vivo testing, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is flexible and inexpensive, offering the possibility to predict hemodynamics and mechanical blood damage in a purely numerical manner. Thus, CFD has become an important tool for the design, optimization and evaluation of blood pumps. The stringent requirements of blood pumps require high fidelity simulations. Thus, this article reviews the current state of the art in high-fidelity methodologies for simulating blood flow and blood damage for the development and evaluation of rotary blood pumps; design and optimization methods of rotatory blood pumps using CFD, as well as future challenges.