Estimating Mechanical Blood Trauma in a Centrifugal Blood Pump: Laser Doppler Anemometer Measurements of the Mean Velocity Field

Marcos Pinotti; Nicola Paone

doi:10.1111/j.1525-1594.1996.tb04478.x

Estimating Mechanical Blood Trauma in a Centrifugal Blood Pump: Laser Doppler Anemometer Measurements of the Mean Velocity Field

Artif Organs. 1996 May;20(5):546-552. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1594.1996.tb04478.x.

Authors

Marcos Pinotti¹, Nicola Paone¹

Affiliation

¹ Departamento de Energia, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica, UNICAMP, Campinas SP, BrazilDipartimento di Meccanica, Universita degli Studi di Ancona, Ancona, Italy.

PMID: 28868717
DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1594.1996.tb04478.x

Abstract

A laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) was used to obtain the mean velocity and the Reynolds stress fields in the inner channels of a well-known centrifugal vaneless pump (Bio-pump). Effects of the excessive flow resistance against which an occlusive pump operates in some surgical situations, such as cardiopulmonary bypass, are illustrated. The velocity vector field obtained from LDA measurements reveals that the constraint-forced vortex provides pumping action in a restricted area in the core of the pump. In such situations, recirculating zones dominate the flow and consequently increase the damage to blood cells and raise the risk of thrombus formation in the device. Reynolds normal and shear stress fields were obtained in the entry flow for the channel formed by two rotating cones to illustrate the effects of flow disturbances on the potential for blood cell damage.

Keywords: Cardiopulmonary bypass-; Centrifugal blood pump-; Determination of Reynolds stresses; Flow visualization-; Laser Doppler anemometer measurements-.