16 | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aor Artificial Organs. 2020;44:16–27. © 2019 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Received: 19 December 2018 | Revised: 8 February 2019 | Accepted: 8 February 2019 DOI: 10.1111/aor.13436 MAIN TEXT ARTICLE Evaluation of centrifugal blood pumps in term of hemodynamic performance using simulated neonatal and pediatric ECMO circuits Shigang Wang 1 | Morgan K. Moroi 1 | Allen R. Kunselman 2 | John L. Myers 1,3 | Akif Ündar 1,3 Shigang Wang and Morgan K. Moroi contributed equally to this work. Presented in part at the 15th International Conference on Pediatric Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems and Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Perfusion, held May 9–11, 2019 in New York, NY, USA. 1 Department of Pediatrics, Penn State Health Pediatric Cardiovascular Research Center, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Hershey, PA, USA 2 Public Health and Sciences, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Hershey, PA, USA 3 Department of Surgery and Bioengineering, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Hershey, PA, USA Correspondence Akif Ündar, Pediatrics, Surgery, and Bioengineering, Penn State College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics ‐ H085, 500 University Drive, P.O. Box 850, Hershey, PA 17033‐0850, USA Email: aundar@pennstatehealth.psu.edu Abstract The objective of this translational study was to evaluate the FDA‐approved PediMag, CentriMag, and RotaFlow centrifugal blood pumps in terms of hemodynamic perfor- mance using simulated neonatal and pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuits with different sizes of arterial and venous cannulae. Cost of dispos- able pump heads was another important variable for this particular study. The experi- mental circuit was composed of one of the centrifugal pump heads, a polymethylpentene membrane oxygenator, neonatal and pediatric arterial/venous cannulae, and 1/4‐inch ID tubing. Circuits were primed with lactated Ringer’s solution and packed human red blood cells (hematocrit 35%). Trials were conducted at 36°C using the three pump heads and different cannulae (arterial/venous cannulae: 8 Fr/18 Fr, 10 Fr/20 Fr, and 12 Fr/22 Fr) at various flow rates (200–2400 mL/min, 200 mL/min increments) and rotational speeds. Pseudo patient pressure was 60 mm Hg. Real‐time pressure and flow data were recorded for analysis. The RotaFlow pump had a higher pressure head and flow range compared with the PediMag and CentriMag pumps at the same rotational speed and identical experimental settings (P < 0.001). The PediMag pump had lower flow output than others (P < 0.001). Small‐caliber arterial cannulae and higher flow rates predictably created higher circuit pressures and pres- sure drops. There was no significant difference in hemodynamic energy delivered to the pseudo patient with each of the three pumps. The arterial cannula had the highest pressure drop and hemodynamic energy loss in the circuit when compared to the oxy- genator and arterial tubing. The RotaFlow centrifugal pump had a significantly better hemodynamic performance when compared to the PediMag and CentriMag blood pumps at identical experimental conditions in simulated neonatal and pediatric ECMO settings. In addition, the cost of the RotaFlow pump head ($400) is 20 to 30‐ fold less than the other centrifugal pumps [CentriMag ($12 000) or PediMag ($8000)] that were evaluated in this translational study.