Simulation Study of Blood Perfusion according to Outflow Cannulation Site of Left Ventricular Assist Device

Outflow cannulation site of left ventricular assist device(LVAD) chosen by considering anatomical structure of thoracic cavity and vascular system. Though outflow cannulation site influences blood perfusion at each branch, there is no standard rule or quantitative data. In this study, we computed the amount of blood perfusion at each arterial branch numerically according to outflow cannulation sites(ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending aorta). We generated computational meshes to the three-dimensionally reconstructed arterial system. Clinically measured arterial pressure were used for inlet boundary condition, porous media were applied to mimic blood flow resistance. Blood perfusion through left common carotid artery was 2.5 times higher than other cases, and that through right common carotid artery was 1.1 times higher than other branches. Although this is simulation study, will be useful reference data for the clinical study of LVAD which considers blood perfusion efficiency.