Inlet port positioning for a miniaturized centrifugal blood pump

We are developing the Baylor-Kyocera KP implantable centrifugal blood pump for small sized adult and pediatric patients. This pump eccentrically positions the inlet port, which eliminates flow stagnation around the top pivot bearing. The inlet port design is important because it may vary the inlet orifice pressure on the top housing and change hydraulic performance and hemolytic characteristics. The pressure distribution inside the KP pump was assessed by a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis with 2.7 x 10(5) elements and 3.16 x 10(5) nodes. Hydraulic performance and hemolysis were evaluated with 3 different pump housings, which had 3.8, 4.5, and 6.1 mm offset inlet ports from the center in a mock circuit. The CFD analysis revealed that the pressure gradually increased from the center toward the peripheral. The pressure difference between the 3.8 to 6.1 mm offsets was less than 600 Pa. The hydraulic performance did not drastically change at 3.8, 4.5, and 6.1 mm offset from the center. However, the hemolysis increased with the increase of the port offset from 0.0080 +/- 0.0048 to 0.054 +/- 0.028 g/100 L. The inlet port positioning is important to attain less blood trauma in this small Gyro centrifugal blood pump. The preferable position of the inlet port is less than 4.5 mm offset from the center.