A quantitative visualization study of flow in a scaled-up model of a centrifugal blood pump.
A quantitative flow visualization study of a scaled-up model of a centrifugal blood pump was performed. Since the size of the scaled-up model was three times as large as the original pump under development, and the kinematic viscosity of the saline solution used as the working fluid was approximately one-third that of the blood, we obtained a similar flow at one twenty-seventh the angular velocity of the original pump. The flow was visualized by seeding the saline solution with neutrally buoyant particles and by illuminating the model with a laser light sheet. Since the gap flow behind the impeller is important for thrombus formation, it was recorded by a high-speed video camera, and the velocity field was evaluated automatically by particle tracking velocimetry. It was shown that in the gap behind the impeller there existed a region where the velocity profile was almost flat which can be called a core region. The results indicated the effectiveness of the present visualization technique for centrifugal blood pumps.
Ikeda
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T
Biomimetrics Division, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan.
Yamane
T
T
Orita
T
T
Tateishi
T
T
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002498:Centrifugation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000592:standards*; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D014783:Viscosity