We studied the pumping characteristics of the Hemopump®, a commercially availabe miniature intraventricular blood pump for temporary support of failing hearts. The Hemopump® is an axial flow pump of which the characteristics can be described by turbomachine theory. Experiments with water and a mock circulation verified that the pumping characteristics of the Hemopump®, in terms of both pressure head and flow as a function of rotational speed, very well can be described by a first order differential equation. The influence of blood with its non-Newtonian character is being investigated
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