The Progressive Wave Pump: Numerical Multiphysics Investigation of a Novel Pump Concept With Potential to Ventricular Assist Device Application

Abstract

This article describes the numerical fluid–structure interaction (FSI) validation of a new pumping concept and the possibility for application of a further developed type, as an implantable ventricular assist device (VAD). The novel principle of the so‐called progressive wave pump is based on the interaction of an elastic membrane actuated by forced excitation with a surrounding fluid and the pump housing. By applying forced vibrations to one end of the membrane, a transversal wave builds up and progresses to the far end generating both a positive pressure gradient and flow rate. Among others, two axisymmetric geometrical configurations are possible, namely the discoidal and the tubular design. The first one has been built as a physical prototype and is experimentally investigated. In addition, a corresponding numerical FSI model is set up and validated against the experimental findings. Based on this validated numerical method, further numerical investigations are conducted focusing on the development of a tubular progressive wave pump concept with regard to its potential for application as a VAD in the future. To address VAD‐relevant issues such as size, hydraulic performance, and blood trauma, corresponding numerical simulations involving macroscopic blood trauma models have been performed. Although being still in an early phase of development, the results are promising and indicate that the wave pump concept in its present state is feasible and can be further developed and investigated as a new type of blood pump.

Sensorless Nonlinear Stroke Controller for an Implantable, Undulating Membrane Blood Pump

“…This technology, originally patented in [11] is made of an inlet, an outlet and a pump body that is the operation space bounded by rigid walls where a deformable membrane is excited at one end by a periodic force exerted normally to the membrane surface [12], [13]. The excitation results in a deformation wave that propagates from the excited end of the membrane, close to the inlet, to the opposite end, which is near the outlet.…”

“…It consists of a feedforward and a PI controller. The feedforward is a linearization of Eqs (1) and (2) around the resting point ( = 0, = 0), given in (12) and (13). It takes as input the desired position at each time step to compute as:…”

Artificial Organs 2012: A Year in Review

“…Markus Perschall et al. of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany described the numerical fluid–structure interaction validation of a progressive wave pumping concept and the possibility for application of a further developed type, as an implantable ventricular assist device. For issues of size, hydraulic performance, and blood trauma, corresponding numerical simulations involving macroscopic blood trauma models were performed.…”

Extended finite element method for fluid‐structure interaction in wave membrane blood pump

“…37 Other works focused on the optimal implantation of the device [38][39][40][41] or on the hemocompatibility requirements of VADs, trying to understand and prevent the mechanisms that favor hemolysis, [42][43][44] thrombogenicity, [45][46][47] and gastrointestinal bleeding. 48 Regarding progressive wave blood pumps, to our knowledge the only reference is the work from Perschall et al, 49 who performed a Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) study, providing a validation of their results against experimental data. FSI numerical experiments have been carried out by considering a 2D axi-symmetric approximation of the discoidal geometry and the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation.…”

“…Regarding progressive wave blood pumps, to our knowledge the only reference is the work from Perschall et al, 49 who performed a Fluid‐Structure Interaction (FSI) study, providing a validation of their results against experimental data. FSI numerical experiments have been carried out by considering a 2D axi‐symmetric approximation of the discoidal geometry and the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation.…”