HYDRODYNAMIC AND HEMOLYSIS ANALYSIS ON DISTANCE AND CLEARANCE BETWEEN IMPELLER AND DIFFUSER OF AXIAL BLOOD PUMP

Low hemolysis and hydraulic performance are important factors for an axial blood pump, which have been transplanted in patients with heart failure (HF). The distance and clearance between impeller and diffuser play a key role in hemolytic properties and hydraulic performances of axial blood pumps that were developed by our group inspired by the design features of HeartMate II. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the appropriate distance and clearance between impellers and diffusers of axial blood pumps, which contains the best low hemolytic property and hydraulic performance using the computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) approach. Specially, the hemolysis of the pump was calculated by using two different empirical power -law hemolytic blood damage models with two sets of parameters. The two hemolytic blood damage models with two sets of parameters were analyzed and compared. Further, the different distances and clearances between impellers and diffusers that affect hemolytic and hydraulic characteristics were also analyzed. The results showed that the pump with distance of 2 mm and clearance of 0.2 mm between impeller and diffuser exhibited the best hemolytic property and better hydraulic performance.