Trileaflet valve for VAD use with purged sinus.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Devices
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Thromboembolic complications remain a significant challenge in clinical ventricle assist device (VAD) applications.
• Thrombus formation often occurs in the valve sinus region due to stagnant blood flow or recirculation.
• Current VAD valves, even those made of antithrombogenic materials like cross-linked bovine pericardium, are susceptible to thrombus generation in these areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel VAD valve design engineered to mitigate thrombus formation.
• To investigate the efficacy of a purge flow mechanism in preventing stagnant flow within the valve sinus during systole.
• To assess the impact of this design on blood flow dynamics in the valve sinus.

Main Methods:

• Utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate blood flow patterns.
• Introduced a novel valve design incorporating a purge flow system.
• Perforated the valve sinus with a small orifice at its base to direct purge flow.

Main Results:

• The CFD simulations demonstrated that the purge flow effectively increased blood circulation within the valve sinuses.
• The novel design successfully addressed the issue of stagnant flow in the valve sinus during systole.
• This indicates a potential reduction in thrombus formation in critical VAD components.

Conclusions:

• The proposed VAD valve design with a purge flow system is effective in improving blood flow dynamics within the valve sinus.
• This innovative approach shows promise for reducing thromboembolic complications associated with VADs.
• Further clinical investigation is warranted to validate the impact on patient outcomes.