Generally, blood pumps serve to deliver blood, for example extra-corporally as a roller or a peristaltic pump in the dialysis circulation or as a centrifugal (rotary) pump for cardiac assistance or - for a limited amount of time - for replacement of the human heart. Blood pumps are very demanding concerning both their mechanical functionality and their effect on the pumped biological medium (blood).

Object of the numerical simulation is in addition to the optimisation of the pump performance especially the prediction and minimisation of the pumps's potential for blood damage, like haemolysis and thrombosis formation.

Method - Three-dimensional flow simulations of the entire blood pump are used to realistically calculate the flow characteristics and the hydraulic performance of a blood pump. Numerical computation of the flow field in combination with our advanced blood damage models for haemolysis prediction and thrombosis simulation are applied to predict the haemocom-patibility of a blood pump.

The result of a blood pump simulation enable a spatially resolved analysis of the velocity, pressure and stress distributions in the entire pump. In addition to the determination of the haemolysis rate and possible thermo-osmosis, the formation of thrombi is visualised as aresult of the simulation. This serves as an excellent basis, for efficient parameter studies and design optimisations of blood pumps prior to prototype manufacturing and in vitro testing.

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