Design and Analysis of Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic progressive condition that affects the pumping power of the heart muscles and eventually leads to the heart failure if left untreated. The therapies available include lifestyle changes and medication for patients diagnosed at an earlier stage. At advanced

Project Title

Design and Analysis of Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic progressive condition that affects the pumping power of the heart muscles and eventually leads to the heart failure if left untreated. The therapies available include lifestyle changes and medication for patients diagnosed at an earlier stage. At advanced stages of the disease, heart transplant becomes the only viable option. The shortage of donors makes it impossible for all the patients to get the heart transplant. In such cases, Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) emerges as lifesaving option by assisting heart function as well as improving quality of life. MCS systems are artificial devices which assist the pumping of either existing heart (LVAD, RVAD, BiVAD) or replaces the original heart (TAH). MCS devices are used as either bridge-to-transplant or long term destination therapy. Ventricular assist devices (VAD) are used to partially support the cardiac circulation by means of using a mechanical pump while total artificial heart (TAH) completely replaces the biological heart. When VAD is used simultaneously for both left and right ventricular, it is known as Bi-VAD. VAD can be used as standalone device for left and right ventricular known as LVAD and RVAD, respectively. LVAD takes blood from left ventricle and pumps it into aorta. VAD can be continuous flow (CF) device (centrifugal or axial flow pump) or pulsatile flow (PF) device (reciprocating pump).

In Pakistan during 2018, 2,800,000 people were affected by heart diseases and 406,870 of these expired. On July 09, 2018, first LVAD implant operation in Pakistan was successfully performed at national institute of cardiovascular diseases (NICVD), Karachi. There is no complete heart transplant operation being performed in Pakistan yet. A LVAD costs between USD 80,000-100,000.

In recent years Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has emerged as a powerful tool to virtually characterize different designs of VADs for their functional performance. CFD studies not only prove helpful for solving fundamental fluid dynamics problems but also with the biological complications associated with the usage of VADs. The purpose of this project is to design and analyze a 2nd gen LVAD and predict its hydraulic and hemolytic performance. Design and analysis of CF LVAD will be done to reduce hemolysis and stagnation points to avoid thrombosis. Different blade profiles as well as different number of blades will be considered during the designing and analysis procedure. Computational fluid dynamics analysis will be performed on different initial designs. A stress based CFD code to estimate the quantitative hemolysis will also be implemented. 

Experimental techniques will be implemented to validate the theoretical results. A working prototype will be manufactured using conventional machining as well as rapid prototyping techniques to examine hydraulic performance and flow characteristics of the designed LVAD.

Project Objectives

Following points represent the key objectives of this project.

• Understanding the key processes involved in the phenomenon of blood pumping
• CAD models of the initial design
• Design and analysis of 2nd generation continuous flow left ventricular assist device to reduce hemolysis and stagnation points to avoid thrombosis
• Implementing stress based CFD code to estimate the quantitative hemolysis
• Manufacturing the design,selected after theroretical studies, using conventional mnufacturing as well as additive manufacturing techniquesb
• Conducting hydraulic performance testing for validation of computational fluid dynamics results
• Visualizing flow behavior and characteristics by implementing flow visualization techniques

Project Implementation Method

Following setps will be implemented for the successful implementation of the project

• Literature review

• CAD modelling
• Computational modelling and CFD analysis
• Writing the code for the hemolysis prediction
• Comparing the results for the selection of optimum design
• Manufacturing the prototype using conventional as well as additive manufactring techniques
• Development of experimental setup for hydraulic performance testing and flow visualization 
• Thesis writing

Benefits of the Project

• The shortage of donors make it impossible for all the patients in need to get the heart transplant in time. This gives rise to the need of mechanical circulatory support devices. A left ventricular assist device costs between 80,000-100,000 USD. This initial design, analysis and experimentation study will pave the way for future research and eventually an economic, locally designed and manufactured ventricular assist device that will save a lot of lives.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

• Development of computational model and code for optimized design of continuous flow left ventricular assist device based on hydraulic and hemolytic performance
• Development of hydraulic performance testing setup for prototype of left ventricular assist device

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Health

Other Industries

Medical , Manufacturing

Core Technology

Wearables and Implantables

Other Technologies

3D/4D Printing

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People

Required Resources

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