Abstract
It has been suggested that pulsatile blood flow is superior to continuous flow (CF) in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). However, adoption of pulsatile flow (PF) technology has been limited because of practicality and complexity of creating a consistent physiologic pulse. A pediatric pulsatile rotary ventricular pump (PRVP) was designed to address this problem. We evaluated the PRVP in an animal model and determined its ability to generate PF during CPB. The PRVP (modified peristaltic pump, with tapering of the outlet of the pump chamber) was tested in four piglets (10-12 kg). Cannulation was performed with right atrial and aortic cannulae, and pressure sensors were inserted into the femoral arteries. Pressure curves were obtained at different levels of flow and compared with both the animal's baseline physiologic function and a CF roller pump. Pressure and flow waveforms demonstrated significant pulsatility in the PRVP setup compared with CF at all tested conditions. Measurement of hemodynamic energy data, including the percentage pulsatile energy and the surplus hydraulic energy, also revealed a significant increase in pulsatility with the PRVP (p < 0.001). The PRVP creates physiologically significant PF, similar to the pulsatility of a native heart, and has the potential to be easily implemented in pediatric CPB.