Computer simulations could lead to better cardiac pump for children with heart defects

Structural and mechanical engineers at the University of California, San Diego, are working together to create blood flow simulations that could lead to improvements in the design of a cardiac pump for children born with heart defects. They hope that the design changes will improve young patients' outcomes.

The Berlin Heart is currently the only FDA-approved cardiac pump for young children who can't be outfitted with an adult-sized pump. The device is used to extend a patient's life until a transplant becomes available.

Accurate simulations of the way blood flows inside the pump are important because the device is associated with a 40 per cent risk of developing blood clots, which can lead to strokes or embolisms.

This in turn can have devastating consequences on the children using the pump, who can be anywhere from just a few months old to about 9 years of age. Simulations can be used to make design changes that would lower these risks.

Two researchers at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego have combined their strengths to solve this problem. Alison Marsden, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, focuses on the development of blood flow simulation tools that can be used to test and optimise new heart surgery designs on the computer before trying them on patients.

Yuri Bazilevs, a professor of structural engineering, focuses on computational science and engineering to develop methods for large-scale, high-performance computing applications.