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Evaluation of Hemolysis in the VentrAssist Implantable Rotary Blood Pump
Author(s) -
James Natalie L.,
Wilkinson Carmel M.,
Lingard Nicole L.,
Meer Anita L. van der,
Woodard John C.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
artificial organs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.684
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1525-1594
pISSN - 0160-564X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1525-1594.2003.07188.x
Subject(s) - hemolysis , hematocrit , whole blood , impeller , blood flow , saline , human blood , phosphate buffered saline , chemistry , biomedical engineering , surgery , medicine , anesthesia , chromatography , physiology , physics , thermodynamics
The VentrAssist implantable rotary blood pump (IRBP) is an implantable centrifugal blood pump with a hydrodynamically suspended impeller; optimal efficiency requires small running clearances (70–300 μm). The effect of running clearance and polish on hemolysis was evaluated in vitro. Three different human blood suspensions were compared: phosphate buffered saline (PBS), plasma volume expander (Hemaccel), and whole blood. The test conditions were: blood hematocrit 30%, flow rate 5 L/min, pressure across pump 100 mm Hg, 6 h flow period, and 37°C. Normalized Index of Hemolysis (NIH) for the Biomedicus BP‐80, used as a control, was: 0.0040 ± 0.0023 (n = 9; x ± SD) and 0.00014 ± 0.00009 (n = 5) for pooled blood suspensions in PBS and Hemaccel respectively, and 0.00053 ± 0.0002 (n = 3) in whole blood. Hemolysis was reduced by improved surface finish and unaffected by running clearance. NIH for the VentrAssist IRBP with 0.2 μm Ra surface finish was 0.000167 ± 0.00007 (n = 4) g/100 L in whole human blood, demonstrating minimal hemolysis.