title: Physics-driven impeller designs for a novel intravascular blood pump for patients with congenital heart disease.
abstract: Mechanical circulatory support offers an alternative therapeutic treatment for patients with dysfunctional single ventricle physiology. An intravascular axial flow pump is being developed as a cavopulmonary assist device for these patients. This study details the development of a new rotating impeller geometry. We examined the performance of 8 impeller geometries with blade stagger or twist angles varying from 100° to 800° using computational methods. A refined range of blade twist angles between 300° and 400° was then identified, and 4 additional geometries were evaluated. Generally, the impeller designs produced 4-26mmHg for flow rates of 1-4L/min for 6000-8000 RPM. A data regression analysis was completed and found the impeller with 400° of blade twist to be the superior performer. A hydraulic test was conducted on a prototype of the 400° impeller, which generated measurable pressure rises of 7-28mmHg for flow rates of 1-4L/min at 6000-8000 RPM. The findings of the numerical model and experiment were in reasonable agreement within approximately 20%. These results support the continued development of an axial-flow, mechanical cavopulmonary assist device as a new clinical therapeutic option for Fontan patients.
authors.affiliation: BioCirc Research Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Chopski
authors.affiliation: BioCirc Research Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Carson S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: BioCirc Research Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Kelli L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.affiliation: BioCirc Research Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Riddle
authors.affiliation: D. K. Engineering, Richmond, VA, United States.
authors.forename: Dhyaa H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kafagy
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Randy M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.affiliation: BioCirc Research Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, United States . Electronic address: amy.throckmorton@drexel.edu.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Throckmorton
mesh_terms: D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000628:therapy*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D011474:Prosthesis Design
keywords: Blood pump; CFD; Computational fluid dynamics; Heart pump; Mechanical circulatory assistance; Pediatric circulatory support; Rotary blood pump