Pivot wear of a centrifugal blood pump developed for circulatory assist.

We are developing a monopivot centrifugal pump for circulatory assist for a period of more than 2 weeks. The impeller is supported by a pivot bearing at one end and by a passive magnetic bearing at the other. The pivot undergoes concentrated exposure to the phenomena of wear, hemolysis, and thrombus formation. The pivot durability, especially regarding the combination of male/female pivot radii, was examined through rotating wear tests and animal tests. As a result, combinations of similar radii for the male/female pivots were found to provide improved pump durability. In the extreme case, the no-gap combination would result in no thrombus formation.