IN-VITRO THROMBOGENICITY TESTING OF ARTIFICIAL ORGANS

Thromboembolic complications remain as one of the main problems for bl ood contacting artificial organs such as heart valves, bloodpumps and others. In vitro evaluation of thrombogenesis in prototypes has not pr eviously been part of the standard evaluation of these devices. In com parison to hemolysis testing, evaluation of the thrombogenic potential is more difficult to perform because of the complexity of the blood c oagulation system. We present an in vitro testing procedure that allow s the accelerated examination of the thrombogenic potential of differe nt types of blood pumps. Additionally, first results are presented tha t indicate the reliability of the accelerated clotting test for mechan ical heart valves. Results for the centrifugal pump BioMedicus and two microaxial pumps have shown typical thrombus formation at locations s uch as bearings. The results indicate that the accelerated clotting te st is an excellent addition to the much more expensive animal testing of artificial organs or assist devices. In vitro testing permits studi es of thrombus formation to be performed at an early stage and at low costs and also facilitates a more precise investigation of device area s known to be potential hot spots for thrombus formation.