In vitro analysis of the flow fields of a rotary blood pump

Thrombosis formation and hemolysis have been linked to the dynamics of the flowing blood and the hydrodynamic performance of the pump in a rotary blood pumps and ventricular assist devices (VADs). Hemolysis occurs as the blood passes through the pump housing and thrombosis in stagnation and low velocity regions. In our on-going research on VAD some experiments using LDA and CFD numerical analysis were performed on the Medtronic and Terumo blood pumps respectively. In this paper preliminary flow characteristics in terms of mean velocity and tangential velocity vectors are presented and discussed. These preliminary in vitro test data reveal that the use of LDA and CFD techniques are powerful tools in new pump designs and pump improvement.