A comparative study between flow visualization and computational fluid dynamic analysis for the sun medical centrifugal blood pump

Flow visualization experiments and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses were performed and the results were compared to clarify the detailed fluid dynamic characteristics for the prototype design of a centrifugal pump, namely, an implantable ventricular assist system from Sun Medical, whose hemocompatibility was previously demonstrated in a series of animal experiments. The flow visualization was conducted with particle tracking velocimetry, and the CFD analysis was performed with STAR-CD software. The findings were as follows: (1). There were no flow separations around the curved open impeller. (2). Antithrombogenic design concepts for the inducer and the vane-shaft clearance were effective in producing axial velocity along the shaft surface and generat-ing suitable shear rates against the stationary fluid. (3). Unsteady vortex shedding in the outlet, which adversely affected the fluid dynamic efficiency, was observed clearly by flow visualization. Comparison of velocity distribution measured by flow visualization and CFD analysis showed reasonably good correlation. Our findings indicate that the impeller is suitable for an implantable artificial heart. The techniques of flow visualization and CFD analysis are complementary evaluation tools in research and development efforts.