Multiscale Analysis of the interactions between a Novel Total Artificial Heart and the Native Cardiovascular System.

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Over 500,000 people in the UK alone suffer from heart failure, with around 14,000 admitted to hospital each year and 10,000 deaths. For those patients with severe end-stage heart failure, the only hope of long-term survival is a heart transplant. However, fewer than 200 heart transplants are carried out each year in the UK due to a lack of donor hearts. It is vital therefore that alternative treatments are available to prolong the life of a patient until a donor can be found. One such method is the complete replacement of the native heart with a total artificial heart (TAH)Scandinavian Real Heart AB are developing a novel TAH based on the concept of positive displacement pumps. It is hypothesized that this approach, compared to the traditional rotary pumping method, has major advantages for physiological compatibility. This research will therefore investigate the interactions between the TAH and the native cardiovascular system, assessing the biocompatibility of the device to aid design optimisation and regulatory approval. The areas of interest that will undergo specific analysis will be quantifying the level of blood damage caused by the TAH due to stasis or turbulent flow and the thermal influence due to the pumping mechanism. This will be achieved through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the blood flow within the TAH, and finite element analysis (FEA) to assess the thermal distribution throughout the structure. In addition, the pulse wave that is generated by the pumping cycle, and the effect on the arterial system will also be investigated through the creation of in-house mathematical models.The benefits of this research would be to aid the design and development of a novel solution to the lack of available heart donors, prolonging the life of potentially thousands of people. This research also will also influence future artificial heart and medical implant designs through the outlining of regions of bio-incompatibility.