P26: Development of Hybrid Continuous Flow Pediatric TAH Technology

Background: To address the unmet clinical need for pediatric mechanical circulatory support devices, we are developing an operationally versatile, hybrid, continuous-flow, total artificial heart (Dragon Heart). This constitutes the first device to integrate an axial and centrifugal blood pump with both pumps magnetically suspended. Methods: We employed a validated axial flow pump, and we focused here on the development of the centrifugal pump. A motor was integrated to drive the centrifugal pump and achieves a 50% reduction relative to the prior iterations. The motor design was developed using finite element analysis (COMSOL), whereas the pump design improvement was achieved by computational fluid dynamics (ANSYS fluent). A prototype centrifugal pump was constructed from bio-compatible 3-D printed parts for the housing and machined metal parts for various drive system components. Centrifugal pump testing was initially conducted using water before moving to bovine blood. Finally, the fully combined device (i.e. axial pump nested inside of the centrifugal pump) was tested to ensure proper operation. Results: The centrifugal prototype and model achieved target design requirements for pediatric MCS. We demonstrated the hydraulic performance of the two pumps operating in tandem, and found that the centrifugal blood pump performance was not adversely impacted by the simultaneous operation of the axial blood pump. Conclusion: The current iteration of the Dragon Heart design has achieved a range of operation overlapping our target range. Future design iterations will further reduce size and incorporate complete active magnetic levitation.