Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations of the Aortic Flow in Presence of a Left Ventricle Assist Device with Two Outflow Graft Placements

Cardiovascular diseases are considered to be the main cause of death in developed countries. Due to limitations resulting from in-vivo measurements of velocity, the analysis and evaluation of hemodynamic parameters by means of computational simulations have become the only efficient solution, especially in cases of pathological ventricle or of assisted conditions. A Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) has been used to provide hemodynamic support to patients with critical cardiac failure. The approach used in this work is to develop a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the aorta, including a mechanical support similar to the LVAD (Jarvik 2000 Heart Inc, New York, NY) in order to assess its effects on local haemodynamics. Its purpose is to analyse the hemodynamic effects of a continuous flow LVAD, evaluated in three different working conditions, taking into account the outflow-graft anastomosis in two different locations: thoracic and ascending aorta.