Improvement of Right Centrifugal Pump Using Computer Fluid Dynamics Analysis for Flow Balance Regulation of Total Artificial Heart

Abstract

A flow rate regulation mechanism is essential for a total artificial heart (TAH), for balancing the blood volume of the pulmonary circulation with that of the systemic circulation. We consider the pump characteristic of the centrifugal pump is a crucial function for balancing the flow rate of the TAH because the centrifugal pump has a significant variation in flow rate to pressure head. In this study, the adequate design of the right pump was investigated using computer fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to achieve higher variation to pressure head related to a change in preload. Effects on the pump characteristics on changing the vane height, the vane diameter, and the volute path design were investigated. The significant improvement of the pump characteristics was obtained with a pump with a vane height of 4.5 mm, a vane diameter of 27 mm and a wider volute path design. The variation in flow rate to the pressure head improved dramatically to 0.5 L/min/mmHg with a developed pump from 0.18 L/min/mmHg with the conventional pump design.