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Computational Fluid–Structure Interaction Study of a New Wave Membrane Blood Pump

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Abstract

Purpose

Wave membrane blood pumps (WMBP) are novel pump designs in which blood is propelled by means of wave propagation by an undulating membrane. In this paper, we computationally studied the performance of a new WMBP design (J-shaped) for different working conditions, in view of potential applications in human patients.

Methods

Fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulations were conducted in 3D pump geometries and numerically discretized by means of the extended finite element method (XFEM). A contact model was introduced to capture membrane-wall collisions in the pump head. Mean flow rate and membrane envelope were determined to evaluate hydraulic performance. A preliminary hemocompatibility analysis was performed via calculation of fluid shear stress.

Results

Numerical results, validated against in vitro experimental data, showed that the hydraulic output increases when either the frequency or the amplitude of membrane oscillations were higher, with limited increase in the fluid stresses, suggesting good hemocompatibility properties. Also, we showed better performance in terms of hydraulic power with respect to a previous design of the pump. We finally studied an operating point which achieves physiologic flow rate target at diastolic head pressure of 80 mmHg.

Conclusion

A new design of WMBP was computationally studied. The proposed FSI model with contact was employed to predict the new pump hydraulic performance and it could help to properly select an operating point for the upcoming first-in-human trials.

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Notes

  1. The reader can contact the authors to ask for access to protected information on membrane dimensions and properties.

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Acknowledgments

MM and CV are members of the INdAM Research Group GNCS. The authors wish to acknowledge Charlotte Rasser from CorWave SA for her assistance in manuscript editing and revision.

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement “ROMSOC - Reduced Order Modelling, Simulation and Optimization of Coupled systems”—No. 765374.

Author Contributions

MM: conceiving of the presented idea, design of the computational framework, implementation of the code, numerical simulations, first draft and writing of the manuscript, discussion of the results. FC: writing of the manuscript, discussion of the results, experimental planning. CV: conceiving of the presented idea, design of the computational framework, writing of the manuscript, discussion of the results, project supervision.

Data Availability

The experimental data used for the validation of the numerical results in Fig. 9 are publically available on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4964021).

Code Availability

Not available.

Consent for Publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

M. Martinolli and C. Vergara declare that they have no conflict of interest. F. Cornat is employed at Corwave SA, which designed the wave membrane blood pump considered in this work. However, the research has been funded by European Community and not by the company.

Ethical Approval

Not applicable.

Informed Consent

Not applicable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOX, Dipartimento di Matematica, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Marco Martinolli

  2. CorWave SA, Clichy, France

    François Cornat

  3. LaBS, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Christian Vergara

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  1. Marco Martinolli
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  2. François Cornat
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  3. Christian Vergara
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Correspondence to Christian Vergara.

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Associate Editor Igor Efimov oversaw the review of this article.

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Martinolli, M., Cornat, F. & Vergara, C. Computational Fluid–Structure Interaction Study of a New Wave Membrane Blood Pump. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 13, 373–392 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-021-00584-1

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