Left ventricular assist using a jet pump

A simple, effective, cardiac assist device was developed using a jet pump, a device that performs pumping by energy transfer from a high speed jet to low speed surrounding fluids. This jet pump is inserted retrograde through the aorta and placed in the left ventricle transvalvularly. The jet of oxygenated venous blood entrains blood inside the left ventricle and pumps into the aorta through the aortic valve. Jet velocity is kept below the hemolytic threshold of 1000 cm/sec. The device was placed in a mock circulatory system that stimulates the left ventricle and vascular system by generating a pressure wave (120/75 mmHg) with a 4 L/min cardiac output (CO). A bypass loop (from the venous reservoir to aorta using a Biomedicus pump, Biomedicus Inc., Eden Prairie, MN) was set up, and the jet pump was installed. When the jet pump is turned on, bypass flow rate (BF) is 2.5 L/min, entrainment pumping 1.5 L/min, and peak ventricular pressure (VP) falls below aortic pressure (AP), while maintaining the mean AP. Time tension index (TTI) is decreased 31%. This result, when compared with simple bypass at differing BF, shows more than a 20% reduction in TTI. This simple jet pump provided significant unloading of the left ventricle and may be potentially useful as a left ventricular assist device.