Apical aortic blood pump preclinical assessment for long‐term use: Durability test and stator topology to reduce wear in the bearing system

This study presents an assessment for long‐term use of the apical aortic blood pump (AABP), focusing on wear reduction in the bearing system. AABP is a centrifugal left ventricle assist device initially developed for bridge to transplant application. To analyze AABP performance in long‐term applications, a durability test was performed. This test indicated that wear in the lower bearing pivot causes device failure in long‐term. A wear test in the bearing system was conducted to demonstrate the correlation of the load in the bearing system with wear. Results from the wear test showed a direct correlation between load and wear at the lower bearing pivot. In order to reduce load, thus reducing wear, a new stator topology has been proposed. In this topology, a radial stator would replace the axial stator previously used. Another durability test with the new stator has accounted twice the time without failure when compared with the original model.