Elimination of adverse leakage flow in a miniature pediatric centrifugal blood pump by computational fluid dynamics-based design optimization.

We investigated a miniature magnetically levitated centrifugal blood pump intended to deliver 0.3-1.5 l/min of support to neonates and infants. The back clearance gap between the housing and large volume of the rotor, where the suspension and motor bearings are located, forms a continuous leakage flow path. Within the gap, flow demonstrates a very complex three-dimensional structure: the fluid adjacent to the rotating disk tends to accelerate by centrifugal force to flow radially outwards toward the outlet of the impeller against an unfavorable pressure gradient, which in turn forces blood to return along the stationary housing surfaces. Consequently, one or multiple vortices may be generated in the gap to block blood flow and cause the formation of a retrograde and antegrade leakage flow phenomenon at the gap outlet using an optimization process including extensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of impeller refinements, we found that secondary blades located along the back or extended to the side surfaces of the rotor have the capacity to reduce and eliminate the retrograde flow in the back clearance gap. Flow visualization confirmed the CFD-predicted flow patterns. This work demonstrates the utility of CFD-based design optimization to optimize the fluid path of a miniature centrifugal pump.