title: Development of a radial ventricular assist device using numerical predictions and experimental haemolysis.
abstract: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the potential of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations in predicting the levels of haemolysis in ventricular assist devices (VADs). Three different prototypes of a radial flow VAD have been examined experimentally and computationally using CFD modelling to assess device haemolysis. Numerical computations of the flow field were computed using a CFD model developed with the use of the commercial software Ansys CFX 13 and a set of custom haemolysis analysis tools. Experimental values for the Normalised Index of Haemolysis (NIH) have been calculated as 0.020 g/100 L, 0.014 g/100 L and 0.0042 g/100 L for the three designs. Numerical analysis predicts an NIH of 0.021 g/100 L, 0.017 g/100 L and 0.0057 g/100 L, respectively. The actual differences between experimental and numerical results vary between 0.0012 and 0.003 g/100 L, with a variation of 5% for Pump 1 and slightly larger percentage differences for the other pumps. The work detailed herein demonstrates how CFD simulation and, more importantly, the numerical prediction of haemolysis may be used as an effective tool in order to help the designers of VADs manage the flow paths within pumps resulting in a less haemolytic device.
authors: Civil and Computational Engineering Centre, School of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, West Glamorgan, SA2 8PP Wales, UK. d.carswell@swansea.ac.uk
authors: Dave
authors: D
authors: Carswell
authors: Andy
authors: A
authors: Hilton
authors: Chris
authors: C
authors: Chan
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: McBride
authors: Nick
authors: N
authors: Croft
authors: Avril
authors: A
authors: Slone
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Cross
authors: Graham
authors: G
authors: Foster
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D018056:Hemorheology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular