A Novel Valveless Pulsatile Flow Pump for Extracorporeal Blood Circulation

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a modality of extracorporeal life support which allows temporary support in cases of cardiopulmonary failure and cardiogenic shock. This study presents a valveless pump that works by the Liebau effect as a possible pumping system in ECMO circuits, replacing the current roller and centrifugal pumps. For this purpose, a mock circulatory loop emulating the haemodynamic of the right part of the heart has been constructed. A veno-venous ECMO circuit with the integrated Liebau pump has been incorporated to analyse its performance. The Liebau pump in the ECMO circuit showed a flow assistance in the range of paediatric ECMO and low blood flow range for adults. In addition, experimental tests conducted demonstrated the advantage of the Liebau pump over currently used pumps as the ability to generate a pulsatile flow, which has many advantages in biomedical applications.