Department of Cardiac Surgery
Position: PHD Student
ORCID: 0000-0003-0325-5597
andreas.escher@meduniwien.ac.at
Keywords
Artificial Organs; Biomedical Engineering; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cardiovascular System; Heart Failure
Research group(s)
- CARE - Cardiovascular Research and Engineering
Members:
Research interests
My main research focus is to understand the root cause of hemocompatibility related adverse events in rotodynamic blood pumps currently employed for cardiac assistance. To identify potential sources for adverse device-related hemocompatibility, I am employing a set of numerical and experimental methodologies. Concurrently, I pursue to apply the knowledge gained by examining existing devices toward the design of novel devices for unmet medical needs. As an example, I am working on the development of a novel rotodynamic blood pump intended to support Fontan-type palliated patients with a univentricular heart.
Techniques, methods & infrastructure
To study the link between rotodynamic blood pump designs and device-related hemocompatibility, I employ numerical and experimental methods. I apply computational fluid dynamics to study the hydraulic design of existing devices and to correlate hydraulic pump properties with respective hemolytic actions. In addition, I employ experimental methods to validate numerical flow examinations and to assess device-related hemocompatibility in-vitro with bovine blood.
Selected publications
- Escher, A. et al. (2022) ‘Hemolytic Footprint of Rotodynamic Blood Pumps’, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 69(8), pp. 2423–2432. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tbme.2022.3146135.
- Escher, A. et al. (2022) ‘A Cavopulmonary Assist Device for Long-Term Therapy of Fontan Patients’, Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 34(1), pp. 238–248. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.semtcvs.2021.06.016.
- Escher, A. et al. (2020) ‘A Valveless Pulsatile Pump for Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Hemo- and Fluid Dynamic Feasibility’, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 48(6), pp. 1821–1836. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02492-2.
- Strauch, C. et al. (2021) ‘Validation of Numerically Predicted Shear Stress-dependent Dissipative Losses Within a Rotary Blood Pump’, ASAIO Journal, Publish Ahead of Print. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/mat.0000000000001488.
- Granegger, M. et al. (2020) ‘Blood trauma potential of the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device in pediatric patients’, The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 159(4), pp. 1519-1527.e1. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2019.06.084.