Computational Fluid Dynamics Analyses of a Micro Pediatric Ventricular Assist Blood Pump

Abstract

The heart failure patients supported by the mechanical rotary blood pumps have been validated and investigated in recent decades. A series of adult blood pumps have been investigated in our research group in the last several years and one of them is currently under clinical trials. This present paper aimed at analyzing a micro pediatric blood pump (MPBP) with Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool. MPBP is developed to assist the ventricular according to the practice of pediatric heart failure in Fuwai Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The blade tip diameter of the MPBP is 10 mm. Some advanced structures proposed in our adult blood pumps were further improved in the MPBP and a cantilevered stator applied in the blood pump is a novel try. The results of the numerical simulation show that the MPBP can generate the flow rates of 0.74–3.21 lpm at the rotational speeds of 9,000–11,000 rpm, producing the pressure rises of 36.9–89.7 mmHg. The structural advantage, hydraulic performance and hemolytic property of the MPBP were analyzed in detail. Overall, the attempt of the cantilevered stator blade improved the performance of the blood pump effectively and the MPBP deserves a promising prospect.