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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1997;11:S32-S38
© 1997 Elsevier Science NL

Development of a non-pulsatile permanent rotary blood pump

Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Surgery, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA

^_* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 713 7983930; fax: + 1 713 7983985.

For many years, a common belief was that non-pulsatile perfusion produced physiological and circulatory abnormalities. Since 1977 our group has reported, if a 20% higher blood flow was used more than required for a pulsatile blood pump, there would be no circulatory or physiological abnormalities. These experimental findings confirmed that there was no difference in clinical outcome when using a pulsatile or non-pulsatile blood pump. Furthermore, the non-pulsatile rotary blood pump has demonstrated efficient and reliable performance in various clinical situations. The non-pulsatile blood pump is a simple and reliable design, that can be easily manufactured, and has the following desirable features. There is no need to incorporate heart valves, a large orifice inflow conduit, or a compliance volume-shifting chamber. Since an electrical motor operates continuously, the on-and-off motion required for a pulsatile pump is not necessary; therefore, it becomes a more efficient and durable system. Further, the control algorism is simpler and more reliable than a pulsatile pump. Considering these factors, the non-pulsatile blood pump can be selected for a permanently implantable assist device. To develop an implantable non-pulsatile cardiac device, it is necessary to incorporate seven features in the system such as: small size, atraumatic features, anti-thrombogenic features, anti-infection features, durable and simple design, and low energy requirement with easy controllability.