Numerical prediction of flow patterns and hemolytic performance of a catheter pump

A catheter pump was put forward for short-term treatment of acute heart failure. CFD (computational fluid dynamics) was used to predict flow patterns and hemolytic performance of the catheter pump proposed by the authors for evaluation of the design. Non-structure grids were used for mesh generation of the flow path, and k-epsilon turbulent model was adopted in the simulation. Besides, the trajectories of blood cell particles were obtained by Lagrangian method. Giersiepen's power model was used to predict the hemolysis level quantitatively. The results showed that, at the flow rate of 4L/min and at a RS (rotating speed) of 10000r/min, the differential pressure of the pump reached 111mmHg and the hydraulic performance was proved to fit the requirement of left ventricular assist device. Regular flow patterns were found in the velocity field, and that the maximum wall shear stress reached 158Pa only found in the suction side of the vane near inlet. A low hemolysis level of 2.70E-05 was obtained in the catheter pump. These findings demonstrated that the catheter pump could meet perfusion requirements to treatment acute heart failure and were expected to have a low level of blood trauma.