Publication: Rotary blood pumps and their complications in patient management

VentrAssist pump. Image:
Ventracor, Inc.

Ventricular assist devices currently do not have any ability to regulate flow in relation to demand.  As a result occasionally the device may suck down on the internal wall of the heart. This study in five large greyhound dogs implanted with a VentrAssist left ventricular assist device focused on identification of the precise site and physiological changes induced by or underlying the complication of left ventricular suction as a result of over pumping. Various complications are described in the study. The study authors contend that similar complications of manual speed control occur in humans and remain a major unsolved problem in the clinical management of patients implanted with rotary blood pumps.
The authors are currently developing an intelligent automatic control algorithm to adjust pump flow in relation to demand and prevent overpumping and ventricular suction.

Reference: Salamonsen RF, Lim E, Moloney J, Lovell NH, Rosenfeldt FL. Anatomy and physiology of left ventricular suction induced by rotary blood pumps. Artif Organs. 2015 Jul 6. doi: 10.1111/aor.12550. [Epub ahead of print]