Experiments to Boost Procyrion's Micro Heart Pump Presented at Scientific Conference

Houston, TX, September 19, 2015 --(PR.com)-- enmodes GmbH, a German company that designs and engineers innovative medical designs, put Houston-based Procyrion Inc.’s Aortix™ micro heart pump through a series of computational fluid dynamic simulations to improve the overall design and performance of the prototype in preparation for first-in-human trials. The simulation and bench top flow loop results will be presented at the at the 23rd Annual Congress of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps (ISRBP 2015) to be held September 27 – 29, 2015 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Sascha Groß-Hardt, senior CFD engineer at enmodes, will present his findings on Sunday, September 27 in an oral presentation entitled: “Aortix – Designing A Minimally Invasive Axial Rotary Blood Pump Using Computational Fluid Dynamics For Optimal Flow And Low Hemolytic Potential.”

Aortix is the first catheter-based circulatory heart pump designed specifically for NYHA Class III-IVa heart failure patients who are too sick for medication alone, but not sick enough for risky surgical interventions (i.e. LVAD or transplant). The minimally invasive continuous axial flow pump operates at high speeds in order to unload the heart. Such high speeds can damage the blood (hemolysis) and warrant careful design to minimize this risk.

“We partnered with enmodes for their experience in computational fluid dynamics to assist us in optimizing the design of Aortix,” says Will Clifton, MD, Procyrion Director of Research and Development. “The result is a safer, high-performing prototype with improved pump components. We have validated the increased performance and reduced hemolytic potential of the new design in a number of bench top tests and are excited to move forward.”

The ISRBP organizers selected 35 abstracts to be presented from a variety of topic areas focusing on the research, development, and clinical use of rotary blood pumps and all related forms of mechanical circulatory support. ISRBP is committed to fostering technologies, applications, and clinical procedures for rotary blood pumps and related systems with the goal of saving lives, improving quality-of-life for pump recipients, and increasing the cost-effectiveness of the emerging therapies.

About Procyrion,
Houston-based medical device firm Procyrion, Inc. is developing the first catheter-deployed, intra-aortic pump for ambulatory use. The device is designed to rest and heal the heart by reducing afterload while simultaneously improving blood flow to vital organs. This groundbreaking cardiology tool, conceived by cardiologist Dr. Reynolds M. Delgado, III, medical director of Mechanical Support Devices in Heart Failure at the Texas Heart Institute, is expected to provide a minimally invasive treatment option for millions of chronic heart failure patients. For more information, visit www.procyrion.com or call 713.579.9227.

About enmodes GMBH
enmodes GmbH provides design and engineering services to medical device companies with a major focus on validated computational analyses and optimizations. We offer full service and consulting for translational biomedical developments from small research projects to complex ventures based on our client’s requirements. It is our ambition to create novel approaches and improve existing technology to address current needs and challenges in healthcare. Through our services and together with our partners from clinics, academia and industry, we lead, support or accompany research based developments from first idea to clinical application. enmodes GmbH emerged out of RWTH Aachen in 2011 and still keeps a close collaboration with the Department of Cardiovascular Engineering. For more information about enmodes, visit http://www.enmodes.de/ or email info@enmodes.de.