Conference: Stanford Research Conference
Location: Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Dates: April 15-17, 2016
Presentation: poster presentation
Funding awarded by: Office of Undergraduate Research
Title: Design and Development of a Right Ventricular Assist Device
Abstract: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a debilitating disease that affects millions of patients in the United States with acquired or congenital heart disease. The current treatment paradigm for CHF includes cardiac drugs, heart transplantation, and ventricular assist devices (VADs) that provide temporary bridge-to-transplant and long-term mechanical circulatory assistance to patients with left-sided or right-sided heart failure. Although the preponderance of CHF patients have left ventricular failure, a significant percentage of these patients also have ineffective right ventricles. Since few devices or therapeutic alternatives exist for patients who have failing or severely dysfunctional right ventricles, we are developing a novel right-sided VAD, or RVAD. Building upon a prior design, we improved the pump performance and geometry to accommodate the motor-suspension system. The geometry of the RVAD is more compact than that of the original VAD and features an impeller that is levitated using a novel magnetic suspension system. The target design of the RVAD is to generate blood flow rates of 4-7 L/ min for pressure rises of 10-30 mmHg over rotational speeds of 7,000-13,000 RPM. Numerical simulations of the RVAD were performed using ANSYS CFX such that we directly compared the performance of the improved RVAD model to initial RVAD designs. Computational studies showed that the RVAD achieved the target design and maintained hydraulic performance despite being more than 40% smaller than the RVAD. An assessment of blood cell damage also revealed a low likelihood of trauma with damage indices below 2%. These results support the continued development of this new RVAD for the treatment of right ventricular failure.
Location: Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
Dates: April 15-17, 2016
Presentation: poster presentation
Funding awarded by: Office of Undergraduate Research
Title: Design and Development of a Right Ventricular Assist Device
Abstract: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a debilitating disease that affects millions of patients in the United States with acquired or congenital heart disease. The current treatment paradigm for CHF includes cardiac drugs, heart transplantation, and ventricular assist devices (VADs) that provide temporary bridge-to-transplant and long-term mechanical circulatory assistance to patients with left-sided or right-sided heart failure. Although the preponderance of CHF patients have left ventricular failure, a significant percentage of these patients also have ineffective right ventricles. Since few devices or therapeutic alternatives exist for patients who have failing or severely dysfunctional right ventricles, we are developing a novel right-sided VAD, or RVAD. Building upon a prior design, we improved the pump performance and geometry to accommodate the motor-suspension system. The geometry of the RVAD is more compact than that of the original VAD and features an impeller that is levitated using a novel magnetic suspension system. The target design of the RVAD is to generate blood flow rates of 4-7 L/ min for pressure rises of 10-30 mmHg over rotational speeds of 7,000-13,000 RPM. Numerical simulations of the RVAD were performed using ANSYS CFX such that we directly compared the performance of the improved RVAD model to initial RVAD designs. Computational studies showed that the RVAD achieved the target design and maintained hydraulic performance despite being more than 40% smaller than the RVAD. An assessment of blood cell damage also revealed a low likelihood of trauma with damage indices below 2%. These results support the continued development of this new RVAD for the treatment of right ventricular failure.