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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

A Cost-effective and Reliable Method to Predict Mechanical Stress in Single-use and Standard Pumps
Published on: August 5, 2015
The pivot wash in two impeller modes for the Baylor/Miwatec centrifugal blood pump
Takashi Yamane1, Takayuki Kodama, Masahiro Nishida
1National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. yamane.t@aist.go.jp
Abstract:
A centrifugal blood pump with a double pivot impeller and an eccentric inlet port is being developed as an implantable artificial heart by the Baylor College of Medicine and Miwatec Co. Ltd. Flow visualization measurements were conducted to compare the flow around the pivot for two impeller operational modes: the top and the bottom contact modes. In the top contact mode, one-way flow in the pivot gap due to the eccentric vortex was observed, and sufficient wall shear rate to prevent thrombus formation was attained around the bottom pivot for over 1,400 rpm. Computational fluid dynamic analyses confirmed that the causes of the eccentric vortex were the inlet eccentricity and the pressure imbalance in the volute.

