Excited to announce that our proposal titled "Mechanically Assisted Establishment of Biventricular Physiology for Failing Fontan Circulation" has been recommended for funding! We will develop a novel mechanical circulatory device to support failing Fontan patients during this three-year project. We will use advanced virtual surgery techniques combined with CFD and experiments to optimize the design. Dr. Iki Adachi of Baylor College of Medicine is the PI.
Research Team
Led by Principal Investigator and renowned surgeon Dr. Iki Adachi (BCM/TCH), and a talented team of researchers including Dr. Nobuyuki Kurita (BCM/TCH), Dr. Chris Broda (BCM/TCH), Dr. Yaxin Wang (THI), Dr. Chris Chan (THI), and Dr. Huang Chen (UNLV) the team was recognized for their work on a novel implantable device called "ReVolution." This advanced pump is specifically designed for infants with congenital heart disease who have undergone the Fontan procedure. Unlike traditional approaches that merely support the failing Fontan circulation, the ReVolution pump establishes a "biventricular" circulation, making it adaptable to a variety of different anatomies.
Technical Approach
Mechanical circulatory supports designed for failed Fontan circulation require high flow rates (>5L/min) but low pressure rises (<15mmHg). This requirement significantly differs from those for left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), which operate at a much higher pressure rise. The off-label use of LVADs for Fontan patients puts the pump under a severely off-design condition, increasing the possibility of complications.
In this project, we proposed a novel design inspired by aerospace technology, which uses a rotating array of thin airfoils to achieve a high flow rate with a relatively low-pressure rise. This innovative pump will be further optimized to reduce the hemolytic risk and provide long-term support. The optimization will utilize advanced computational fluid dynamics simulations and a virtual surgery technique that integrates the pump with patient-specific anatomy and hemodynamics data.