New Technology Mimics Physiologic Pulsatile Flow During Cardiopulmonary Bypass

The Ventri Flo True Pulse Pump (Design Mentor, Inc., Pelham, NH, USA) is the first blood pump designed to mimic human arterial waveforms in a standard oxygenation circuit. Our aim was to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of this pump in preparation for future studies to determine possible clinical advantages. We studied four piglets (41.4–46.2 kg): three with an implanted Ventri Flo pulsatile pump and one with the nonpulsatile ROTAFLOW pump (MAQUET Holding B.V. & Co. KG, Rastatt, Germany) as a control. Hemodynamics was monitored during 6‐h cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) support and for 2 h after weaning off CPB. The Ventri Flo demonstrated physiologic arterial waveforms with arterial pulse pressure of 24.6 ± 5.7 mm Hg. Pump flows (2.0 ± 0.1 L/min in ROTAFLOW; 1.9 ± 0.1 L/min in Ventri Flo ) and plasma free hemoglobin levels (27.9 ± 12.5 mg/dL in ROTAFLOW; 28.5 ± 14.2 mg/dL in Ventri Flo ) were also comparable, but systemic O₂ extraction (as measured by arterial minus venous O₂ saturation) registered slightly higher with the Ventri Flo (63.2 ± 6.9%) than the ROTAFLOW (55.4 ± 6.5%). Histological findings showed no evidence of ischemic changes or thromboembolism. This pilot study demonstrated that the Ventri Flo system generated pulsatile flow and maintained adequate perfusion of all organs during prolonged CPB.