Design and testing of a gentle pump with rotating magnetic field for fluids with stress-sensitive microparticles

Abstract

This paper presents the design and testing of a gentle pump prototype that is operated by a rotating magnetic field. The pump targets applications in which the pumped fluid contains stress sensitive microparticles which may be damaged when subjected to the high stress levels prevalent in conventional pumps. The prototype was tested in-vitro using blood from human volunteers, and according to published international protocols for the assessment of the hemolytic properties of continuous flow blood pumps used in extracorporeal or implantable circulatory assist devices. The normalized index of hemolysis (NIH) was found to be about 0.007, which is comparable with that obtained from top ranking blood pumps available in the market today.