EVALUATION OF TANDEM OPERATION OF TURBO BLOOD PUMPS TO. REDUCE HEMOLYSIS

Abstract

An effect of tandem operation of turbo pumps on hemolysis was investigated in this study. The Bio-pump (BP-80) was chosen as a representative pump and a tandem operation of two BP-80s (TOBP) were compared with single operation of a BP-80 (SOBP) in in vitro hemolysis tests in three driving conditions at pressure loads of 200mmHg, 350mmHg and 500mmHg under a pump flow rate of 5L/min. The hemolysis was evaluated with Allen's hemolytic index (HI). Each closed mock loop was filled with heparinized goat blood at the temperature of 38-40°C. The HI of the TOBP at pressure heads of 200mmHg, 350mmHg and 500mmHg were 0.012±0.002mg/dl, 0.019±0.003mg/dl and 0.102±0.032mg/dl, respectively. The HI of the SOBP at pressure loads of 200mmHg, 350mmHg and 500mmHg were 0.013±0.003mg/dl, 0.046±0.014mg/dl and 0.15±0.014mg/dl respectively. These results indicate that the TOBP is one of good methods to reduce high HI and an effect of exposure to higher shear stress on hemolysis may be more serious than that of longer duration of exposure to shear stress in turbo pumps.