Inter-Laboratory Characterization of the Velocity Field in the FDA Blood Pump Model Using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Purpose A credible computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model can play a meaningful role in evaluating the safety and performance of medical devices. A key step towards establishing model credibility is to first validate CFD models with benchmark experimental datasets to minimize model-form errors before applying the credibility assessment process to more complex medical devices. However, validation studies to establish benchmark datasets can be cost prohibitive and difficult to perform. The goal of this initiative sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is to generate validation data for a simplified centrifugal pump that mimics blood flow characteristics commonly observed in ventricular assist devices.