Hemolysis in medical devices and implants has been a primary concern over the past fifty years. Turbulent flow in particular can cause cell trauma and hemolysis in such devices. In this work, the effects of turbulence on red blood cell (RBC) damage are examined by simulating the flow field through a centrifugal blood pump that has been identified as a case study through the critical path initiative of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this study, a new model was employed to predict hemolysis in the turbulent flow environment in the pump selected for the FDA critical path initiative. The operating conditions for a centrifugal blood pump were specified by the FDA for rotational speeds of 2500 and 3500 rpm. The model is based on the analysis of the smaller eddies within the turbulent flow field, since it is assumed that turbulent flow eddies with sizes comparable to the dimensions of the RBCs lead to cell trauma. The Kolmogorov length scale of the velocity field is used to identify such small eddies. Using model parameters obtained in prior work through comparisons to capillary and jet flow, it is found that hemolysis for the 2500-rpm pump was predicted well, while hemolysis for the 3500-rpm pump was overpredicted. Results indicate refinement of the model and empirical constants with better experimental data is needed.

在过去的五十年里，医疗器械和植入物的溶血一直是一个主要问题。尤其是湍流会导致此类装置中的细胞损伤和溶血。在这项工作中，通过模拟通过离心血泵的流场来检查湍流对红细胞 (RBC) 损伤的影响，该离心血泵已被美国食品和药物管理局 (FDA) 的关键路径倡议确定为案例研究）。在这项研究中，采用一种新模型来预测为 FDA 关键路径倡议选择的泵在湍流环境中的溶血。FDA 规定离心血泵的运行条件为 2500 和 3500 rpm。该模型基于湍流场内较小涡流的分析，因为假设大小与红细胞尺寸相当的湍流涡流会导致细胞损伤。速度场的 Kolmogorov 长度尺度用于识别这样的小涡流。使用先前工作中通过与毛细管和射流进行比较获得的模型参数，发现 2500 rpm 泵的溶血预测良好，而 3500 rpm 泵的溶血被高估了。结果表明需要对模型和经验常数进行改进，并提供更好的实验数据。而 3500 rpm 泵的溶血被高估了。结果表明需要对模型和经验常数进行改进，并提供更好的实验数据。而 3500 rpm 泵的溶血被高估了。结果表明需要对模型和经验常数进行改进，并提供更好的实验数据。