Development of a Durable Extracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device Consisting of a Centrifugal Pump with Hydrodynamic Bearings

An extracorporeal ventricular assist device (VAD) intended for patients with severe heart failure has been developed. The VAD consists of a centrifugal blood pump with a new hydrodynamic bearing system that enables non-contacting rotation of the impeller. Preclinical evaluation of the VAD system was performed by bench tests as well as by a series of chronic animal experiments. The bench tests demonstrated that the impeller successfully rotates without mechanical contact under a wide range of operating conditions. In the 30-day animal experiments, the VAD demonstrated good antithrombogenicity under LVAD conditions as well as RVAD conditions. The system was finally decided to have good biocompatibility for use within 30 days.