Use of zirconia ceramic in the DexAide right ventricular assist device journal bearing.
Our aim was to evaluate the potential use of zirconium oxide (zirconia) as a blood journal bearing material in the DexAide right ventricular assist device. The DexAide titanium stator was replaced by a zirconia stator in several blood pump builds, without changing the remaining pump hardware components. In vitro pump performance and efficiency were evaluated at a predetermined pump speed and flow. Motor power consumption decreased by 20%, and DexAide battery life was extended to over 12 h on two fully charged batteries. The zirconia stator was also successfully evaluated in a severe start/stop test pre- and postexposure of the zirconia to accelerated simulated biologic aging. This study's outcomes indicated the advantages of zirconia as an alternate journal bearing material for the DexAide device.
Saeed
Diyar
D
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Horvath
David J
DJ
Massiello
Alex L
AL
Ootaki
Yoshio
Y
Benefit
Stephen
S
Golding
Leonard A R
LA
Fukamachi
Kiyotaka
K
D001243:Assisted Circulation; D002516:Ceramics; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D004867:Equipment Design; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D008422:Materials Testing; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D015040:Zirconium
D003776:Dental Porcelain; D015040:Zirconium; C028541:zirconium oxide