title: An orbiting scroll blood pump without valves or rotating seals.
abstract: Valves in blood pumps are expensive and provide modes of failure. Rotating seals offer sites of thrombus formation and infection. In this study, a prototype pump incorporating no valves or rotating seals was constructed and tested. In this device, fluid is pumped by the orbital action of a spiral shaped scroll relative to an identical stationary scroll whose starting axis is rotated 180 degrees with respect to the orbiting scroll. The two scrolls, which are machined integral with scroll plates, form pockets that are filled from the outside and then ejected in the center as the orbiting scroll completes each cycle. The orbiting scroll is driven by a crank mechanism connected to a motor. Fluid is contained in the space around the scrolls by a flexible collar and does not contact the driving mechanism. The prototype pump is approximately 7.6 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm thick and has an orbiting radius of 5.1 mm. The output of the pump was very sensitive to the clearance between the scroll tip and the base of the opposite scroll plate. For a clearance of 51 microns, pressure differences as high as 400 mmHg and flows as high as 7.7 l/min (of water) were produced at 260 rpm. At 450 rpm with a 330 microns clearance, pressure differences as high as 185 mmHg and flows as high as 7.3 l/min resulted. The relationships between pressure difference and flow were very linear in all cases. Volumetric efficiency was as high as 70% and increased with speed.
authors.affiliation: Biofluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sharp
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003201:Computers; D006354:Heart, Artificial; D011312:Pressure; D013927:Thrombosis; D014783:Viscosity