Human heart preservation analyses using convective cooling

Abstract

Purpose

Currently, human hearts destined for transplantation can be used for 4.5 hours which is often insufficient to test the heart, the purpose of this paper is to find a compatible recipient and transport the heart to larger distances. Cooling systems with simultaneous internal and external liquid cooling were numerically simulated as a method to extend the usable life of human hearts.

Design/methodology/approach

Coolant was pumped inside major veins and through the cardiac chambers and also between the heart and cooling container walls. In Case 1, two inlets and two outlets on the container walls steadily circulated the coolant. In the Case 2, an additional inlet was specified on the container wall thus creating a steady jet impinging one of the thickest parts of the heart. Laminar internal flow and turbulent external flow were used in both cases. Unsteady periodic inlet velocities at two frequencies were applied in Case 3 and Case 4 that had four inlets and four outlets on walls with turbulent flows used for internal and external circulations.

Findings

Computational results show that the proposed cooling systems are able to reduce the heart temperature from +37°C to almost uniform +5°C within 25 min of cooling, thus reducing its metabolic rate of decay by 95 percent. Calculated combined thermal and hydrodynamic stresses were below the allowable threshold. Unsteady flows did not make any noticeable difference in the speed of cooling and uniformity of temperature field.

Originality/value

This is the pioneering numerical study of conjugate convective cooling schemes capable of cooling organs much faster and more uniformly than currently practiced.

Citation

Abdoli, A., Dulikravich, G.S., Bajaj, C.L., Stowe, D.F. and Jahania, S.M. (2015), "Human heart preservation analyses using convective cooling", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 1426-1443. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-08-2014-0251