Impeller design for a miniaturized centrifugal blood pump

The impeller design for a miniature centrifugal blood pump is an important consideration since the small diameter impeller requires higher rotational speed, which may cause more blood trauma compared to the larger diameter im peller. Three different impeller vanes (straight vanes with a height of 4 m m and 8 mm, and 8 mm curved vanes) of which the diameter was 35 mm were sub jected to hydraulic performance and hemolysis tests in the same pump housin g. Both straight vane impellers attained left ventricular assist condition (5 L/min against 100 mm Hg) at 2,900 rpm while the curved vane required 3,2 80 rpm. There was no significant hemolysis difference between the tall and short vanes. The curved impeller vanes did not exhibit sufficient hydraulic performance when compared to the straight vanes. The straight vane impelle rs, even with different heights, were incorporated into the same pump housi ngs, and the vane heights did not drastically change the hydraulic performa nce or hemolysis.