Measurement and analysis of the flow field in a pulsatile ventricularassist device.

A pneumatically driven ventricular assist device (VAD) of unconventional geometry, designed to mitigate adverse haemostatic phenomena by optimization of flow patterns, was investigated using two-component laser Doppler anemometry (LDA). Data were taken on a rectilinear grid over two orthogonal traverses, allowing synthesis of three-dimensional velocity vectors over most of the grid. The resulting data were examined by two-dimensional and three-dimensional static and animated computer graphic visualizations of the time-varying vector fields. This analysis revealed illuminating and previously unobserved features of the complex flow fields within pulsatile VADs and identified design considerations that bear upon minimization of turbulence and of flow recirculation and stasis. The findings of this study suggest that, while total abolition of undesirable flow phenomena in a diaphragm-type blood pump is probably impossible, comprehensive investigation in vitro can engender considerable improvements in the efficacy of a device.

The flow field downstream of an oscillating collapsed tube.

A two-component laser Doppler anemometer was used to determine the velocity of aqueous flow in the region from 0.25 to 2.5 diameters downstream of a collapsible tube while the tube was executing vigorous repetitive flow-induced oscillations. The Reynolds number for the time-averaged flow was 10,750. A simultaneous measurement of the pressure at the downstream end of the tube was used to align all the results in time at sixty locations in each of the two principal planes defined by the axes of collapse of the flexible tube upstream. The raw data of seed-particle velocity were used to create a periodic waveform for each measured velocity component at each location by least-squares fitting of a Fourier series. The results are presented as both velocity vectors and interpolated contours, for each of ten salient instants during the cycle of oscillation. In the plane of the collapse major axis, the dominant feature is the jet which emerges from each of the two tube lobes when it collapses, but transient retrograde flow is observed on both the central and lateral edges of this jet. In the orthogonal, minor-axis plane, the dominant feature is the retrograde flow, which during part of the cycle extends over the whole plane. All these features are essentially confined to the first 1.5 diameters of the rigid pipe downstream of the flexible tube. These data map the temporal and spatial extent of the highly three-dimensional reversing flow just downstream of an oscillating collapsed tube.

Laser-Doppler measurements of velocities just downstream of a collapsible tube during flow-induced oscillations.

The flow field less than one diameter downstream of the end of a collapsible tube executing self excited oscillations was examined using a two-component fiber-optic laser-Doppler anemometer. The time-averaged Reynolds number of the flow was 11,000. With the tube oscillating periodically, results obtained during many cycles of oscillation were combined to yield surface plots of the axial component over the cross section at 16 phases of the cycle. By combining measurements obtained with the laser probe in two different orientations, secondary flow vectors over the cross section were likewise constructed for 16 phases. The measurements showed strongly phasic turbulence intensity, with the phase of high intensity coinciding with the time of maximal tube collapse. Reverse flow occurred during much of the cycle, at places in the cross section that agree with our previous observations of laminar and turbulent steady flow through a rigid simulated collapsed tube.

Measurements of steady turbulent flow through a rigid simulated collapsed tube.

Axial and transverse components of liquid velocity are measured by laser Doppler anemometer in a perspex tube that has been deformed at one point to resemble the shape of the throat of a partially collapsed flexible tube, conveying fluid while being compressed externally. The Reynolds number is 5900. The flow down-stream of the throat consists of two side-jets with reverse flow extending all across the cross-section between them. The jets spread out around the central retrograde-flow zone, initially forming crescents of high-speed forward flow and then, at three diameters downstream, an almost complete annulus of forward flow around a central zone of lower-speed but now forward flow. Comparison is made between the features of this turbulent flow and those of a previously investigated laminar flow through the same geometry. In both, retrograde flow ceases between two and three diameters downstream of the centre of the throat. However, the laminar flow is annular at three diameters downstream, whereas here the jets remain influential at that station. The maximum normalised turbulence intensity exceeds 1.35.

In vitro strain measurement of a mechanical heart valve in a pulse simulator.

To ascertain the stress magnitude at the stress concentration areas, in vitro strain measurements on a St. Vincent's mechanical heart valve were carried out in a pulse simulator. Results were combined with a finite element (FEM) stress analysis of the titanium valve housing. The maximum stress at the site of stress concentration of the titanium valve housing was 51 MPa. This is well below the fatigue endurance limit of titanium. The imposed stress on the occluder by the upper strut was less than 2 MPa. This is below the lower stress limit of Delrin and may explain why no fracture of the Delrin disk occluder has been reported. The combined use of microstrain analysis and FEM proved to be essential in the determination of dynamic stresses during the opening and closing of the mechanical heart valve.

In vitro and in vivo evaluations of the antithrombogenic properties of the spiral vortex pump for temporary left heart bypass.

From conception to realization, the design emphasis of the spiral vortex diaphragm pump has been on promoting efficient blood flow patterns in order to lower thrombogenicity. The tracer method was used to visualize flow patterns in this pump and the results were compared with those of a conventional diaphragm pump with paraxial inlet and outlet ports. During diastole, the flow through a 45 degrees angled inlet is tangential to the axis of the pump forming a continuous vortex central along the pump axis. During systole, the vortex converges to pass through the apically located outlet. No areas of turbulence or stasis could be found, whilst in the conventional pump only random flow with recirculation could be demonstrated. Dye washout tests confirmed good washout at the periphery of this pump with no signs of stasis. However, large areas of stagnation with incomplete washout at diaphragm-housing (D-H) junctions were observed in the conventional pump. The comparative in vitro haemolysis test revealed that the level of free plasma haemoglobin was doubled in a commercially available pump compared with that of the spiral vortex pump. No thrombus formed within the pump housing after up to 50 hours of pumping in five acute animal experiments without postoperative anticoagulants. However, thrombi were found at the D-H junction of this pump due to imperfect fabrication techniques in one of the four sheep that survived 14-21 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)