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A magnetic fluid seal for rotary blood pumps: effects of seal structure on long-term performance in liquid

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Abstract

A magnetic fluid (MF) seal enables mechanical contact-free rotation of the shaft and hence has excellent durability. The performance of an MF seal, however, has been reported to decrease in liquids. We developed an MF seal that has a “shield” mechanism, and a new MF with a higher magnetization of 47.9 kA/m. The sealing performance of the MF seal installed in a rotary blood pump was studied. Three types of MF seals were used. Seal A was a conventional seal without a shield. Seal B had the same structure as that of Seal A, but the seal was installed at 1 mm below liquid level. Seal C was a seal with a shield and the MF was set at 1 mm below liquid level. Seal A failed after 6 and 11 days. Seal B showed better results (20 and 73 days). Seal C showed long-term durability (217 and 275 days). The reason for different results in different seal structures was considered to be different flow conditions near the magnetic fluid. Fluid dynamics near the MF in the pump were analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. We have developed an MF seal with a shield that works in liquid for >275 days. The MF seal is promising as a shaft seal for rotary blood pumps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Science and Informatics, School of Biological Science and Engineering, Tokai University, Sapporo, 005-8601, Japan

    Yoshinori Mitamura & Eiji Okamoto

  2. Department of Biomedical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0814, Japan

    Sayaka Takahashi, Shuichi Amari, Shun Murabayashi & Ikuya Nishimura

Authors
  1. Yoshinori Mitamura
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  2. Sayaka Takahashi
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  3. Shuichi Amari
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  4. Eiji Okamoto
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  5. Shun Murabayashi
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  6. Ikuya Nishimura
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yoshinori Mitamura or Eiji Okamoto.

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Mitamura, Y., Takahashi, S., Amari, S. et al. A magnetic fluid seal for rotary blood pumps: effects of seal structure on long-term performance in liquid. J Artif Organs 14, 23–30 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-010-0526-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-010-0526-8

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