Open AccessCOMPUTER SIMULATION OF PLATELET ACTIVATION IN A PULSATILE VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE, THROUGH FINITE ELEMENTS AND A SIMPLIFIED GEOMETRY
Author(s) -
Exequiel R. Fríes,
Marcelo Eduardo Berli,
Diego Martín Campana,
Sebastián Ubal,
José Di Paolo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
latin american applied research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1851-8796
pISSN - 0327-0793
DOI - 10.52292/j.laar.2017.294
Subject(s) - pulsatile flow , blood flow , platelet , biomedical engineering , ventricular assist device , materials science , cardiology , medicine , heart failure
Ventricular assist devices are a technological solution for patients who suffer from cardiac insufficiency and await a transplant. In this work, a new design of an implantable pulsatile blood pump is analyzed in terms of blood damage, by means of finite elements on a simplified geometry. It is a double effect volumetric pump, which has a noncontact driven piston and four active valves. The analysis is done by means of blood flow simulation into the pump and the prediction of platelets activation. The last is a measure of the pump compatibility with human life. The platelet activation state is evaluated by an equivalent or representative shear stress and compared with bibliographic data corresponding to other VAD kinds and cardiac prosthetic valves. The results show that, for the complementary blood flow rate supplied by the simulated VAD, the predicted platelet damage is in the same levels of current cardiac devices, particularly other VADs.