Abstract
The use of the 3D printing to manufacture trial models of a blood pump is expected to reduce the cost of development. In this study, an impeller whose geometry coincided with that of a commercialized monopivot centrifugal blood pump was made by 3D printing, and hydrodynamic performance, impeller rotating position, and hemolytic property of the assembled pump was compared with those of the production. As a result, almost the same pump hydrodynamic performance was obtained, but larger impeller dropping was occurred in the 3D printing model than the production. This behavior increased the hemolysis level of the 3D printing model at high pressure condition. These results indiated that the trial model made by 3D printing could reproduce the hydrodynamic performance of a production but that we must pay attention to the deformation of the trial models to evaluate the hemolytic property.
