Exploring the influence of parametrized pulsatility on left ventricular washout under LVAD support: a computational study using reduced-order models

Abstract

Introducing pulsatility in LVADs is known to reduce complications such as stagnation and thrombosis, but it is an ongoing topic of research on what the optimal form is. We present a framework consisting of parametrized full-order simulations, reduced-order models, and sensitivity analysis to systematically quantify the effects of parametrized pulsatility on washout. As a sample problem, we study the washout in an idealized 2D left ventricle and a parametrized sinusoidal LVAD flow rate. The framework yields speed-ups proportional to the number of samples required in the sensitivity analysis. In our setting, we find that short, intense pulses wash out the left ventricle best, while the time between consecutive pulses does not play a significant role.