New versatile dual‐support pediatric heart pump

• Published in: Artificial organs 2019-11, Vol.43 (11), p.1055-1064
• Main Authors: Fox, Carson, Sarkisyan, Harutyun, Stevens, Randy, Arabia, Francisco, Fischer, Wade, Rossano, Joseph, Throckmorton, Amy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Axial flow pumps; blood pump; Blood pumps; Centrifugal pumps; Child; Computer applications; Computer Simulation; Congestive heart failure; Design; Heart Defects, Congenital - therapy; Heart Failure - therapy; Heart-Assist Devices; Hemolysis; Heterogeneity; Housing; Humans; Hydrodynamics; Impellers; mechanical circulatory assistance; Medical devices; Medical electronics; Medical equipment; Mercury; Models, Cardiovascular; Patients; pediatric circulatory support; Pediatrics; Pressure; Product design; Prosthesis Design; Prototypes; Pumps; rotary blood pump; Shear stress; Stress, Mechanical; total artificial heart; ventricular assist device
• ISSN: 0160-564X; 1525-1594
• DOI: 10.1111/aor.13507

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices for pediatric patients continue to lag in development behind those for adults. There is no heart pump with the design innovation to support dysfunctional states of heart failure and the anatomic heterogeneity of cardiac defects in pediatric patients. To address this unmet need, we are developing a versatile MCS technology with 2 separate blood pumps under 1 housing, whereby a centrifugal pump rotates around an axial pump. In this study, we advanced the design with a new inducer for the axial pump component and flat inlet volute for the centrifugal pump component. We conducted computational modeling of the design iterations, built prototypes, and tested their performance. The axial pump component was able to generate pressure rises of 1–112 mm Hg for 2–5 L/min at 10 000–14 000 RPM, and the centrifugal pump component produced pressure rises of 1–184 mm Hg for 2–5 L/min at 1750–3000 RPM. Shear stresses and blood damage estimations were less than  490 Pa and 0.5%, respectively. Axial and radial forces were also estimated to be less than 5 N for the axially and radially centered impellers. Data sets were repeatable, and data trends followed theoretical expectations. The new designs for the axial and centrifugal pumps enabled us to reduce the height of the pump while maintaining performance expectations. These findings support the continued development of this new medical device for pediatric patients.