Investigating the Implications for Hydrodynamics of Novel Materials in LVAD Rotor Blades
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Federico, Charles Thomas
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Abstract
The left ventricle in the heart pumps oxygenated blood to the systemic circuit of the body, supplying functional blood supply to all tissue in the body. However, age or disease may lower the efficiency of the ventricles, and the later stage of heart failure often results in disabled function of the ventricles. In the event of failure of the left ventricle, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) may replace the function of the failed chamber in supplying blood to the body. One of the greatest complications that exist in implementing left ventricular assist devices in patients are hemostasis disturbances or thromboembolic events that can trigger strokes in patients. Additionally, accommodating patient variability may lead to operation at off-design points, and can result in hemolysis or stagnation of flow within the systemic system. With the intention of reducing damage to blood and the incidence of stroke caused by stagnation, an analysis on the impact of rotor design and material composition on the HQ curve gradient was conducted. By manufacturing rotors with four unique outlet angles and two different material compositions, eight different rotor models were tested in a hydrodynamic flow loop. By plotting collected pressure data over multiple points of flow, an HQ curve gradient was created for all rotor designs to be compared. From the results, flexible models exhibit an equal relationship between flow and pressure to rigid models, along with demonstrating a comparable range of HQ curve values. The highlights that flexible models can operate at similar speeds to rigid models and output the required volume of blood, and their flatter HQ curves suggest they may allow for smoother adjustments during patient care..
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Undergraduate Research Option Thesis