DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/133Q-EA59

Defense Date

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Amy Throckmorton

Abstract

The long term objective of this research is to develop a collapsible, percutaneously inserted, axial flow blood pump to improve blood flow in the cavopulmonary circulation. Through this research, the experimental evaluation of five blood pump prototypes and hemolysis testing of one blood pump prototype were performed. All prototypes demonstrated acceptable hydraulic performance. A comparison of the experimental results with numerical predictions demonstrated a 10-20% deviation, an acceptable range per industry standard. Hemolysis testing of a four bladed adult blood pump showed plasma free hemoglobin level of 20.04 mg/dL and maximum NIH (normalized index of hemolysis) level was 0.017 g/100L. This thesis project serves as a solid foundation from which to continue development of this suited intravascular axial flow blood pump. Successful completion of this research will lead to a novel percutaneously inserted axial flow pump for infants and adult patients with a failing Fontan physiology.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

November 2009

Included in

Engineering Commons

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