enmodes GmbH, a German company that designs and engineers innovative medical designs, put Houston-based Procyrion Inc.’s Aortix™ micro heart pump through a series of computational fluid dynamic simulations to improve the overall design and performance of the prototype in preparation for first-in-human trials. The simulation and bench top flow loop results will be presented at the at the 23rd Annual Congress of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps (ISRBP 2015) to be held September 27 – 29, 2015 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Sascha Groß-Hardt, senior CFD engineer at enmodes, will present his findings on Sunday, September 27 in an oral presentation entitled: “Aortix – Designing A Minimally Invasive Axial Rotary Blood Pump Using Computational Fluid Dynamics For Optimal Flow And Low Hemolytic Potential.”
Aortix is the first catheter-based circulatory heart pump designed specifically for NYHA Class III-IVa heart failure patients who are too sick for medication alone, but not sick enough for risky surgical interventions (i.e. LVAD or transplant). The minimally invasive continuous axial flow pump operates at high speeds in order to unload the heart. Such high speeds can damage the blood (hemolysis) and warrant careful design to minimize this risk.
“We partnered with enmodes for their experience in computational fluid dynamics to assist us in optimizing the design of Aortix,” says Will Clifton, MD, Procyrion Director of Research and Development. “The result is a safer, high-performing prototype with improved pump components. We have validated the increased performance and reduced hemolytic potential of the new design in a number of bench top tests and are excited to move forward.”