Design and Hemocompatibility Analysis of a Double-Suction Injection Suspension Blood Pump Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Methods

The blood pump has become a possible solution to heart diseases. For the prevention of device failure and hemocompatibility problems, a rotary pump with suspended bearing is a preferred solution. In our previous work, a novel injection suspension method has been introduced to levitate the rotor. The suspension method is totally passive. This study aims to apply this suspension method to a double-suction pump, and the property of the pump was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. The flow field of the pump is simulated based on the SST k- turbulent model. The characteristic curves of the pump were calculated. At the nominal working point of 5 L/min, 100 mm Hg, the suspension force acting on the rotor was detected, which could reach 0.46 N with a gap of 150 mu m. We compared the pump with a previously developed single-suction injection pump to evaluate the blood compatibility of the double-suction design. The average scalar shear stress values were 3.13 Pa for the double-suction pump and 7.10 Pa for the single-suction pump. Larger volumes in the single-suction pump were exposed to shear stresses higher than 10 Pa. Thresholds for the von Willebrand factor cleavage, platelet activation, and hemolysis were defined to be 9 Pa, 50 Pa, and 150 Pa, respectively. The volume fractions for the double-suction pump are lower for all thresholds. The normalized index of hemolysis (NIH) values for the two pumps were calculated to be 0.008 g/100 L and 0.016 g/100 L. Results proved that the double-suction pump has a better hemocompatibility compared with the single-suction pump.