Evaluating Hemodynamic Performance and Drug Adsorption Efficacy of a Chemofilter Device with CFD Modeling

Purpose: A catheter-based Chemofilter device is proposed for reducing systemic toxicity of the Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy (IAC). The Chemofilter chemically adsorbs excessive IAC drugs when temporarily deployed in the vein, downstream of the tumor. The flow and transport are modeled to evaluate the Chemofilter efficacy. Methods: Several porous and non-porous Chemofilter prototypes are modeled with ANSYS Fluent. Electrochemical binding of the drug to the Chemofilter is modeled by coupling the Navier-Stokes and Advection-Diffusion equations. The porous prototype resembles an umbrella which consists of architected microcells. A multiscale approach is applied, where Darcy’s law is used to determine the permeability of a lattice of microcells, and the entire device is modeled as a porous media. The non-porous Chemofilter consists of multiple parallel tubes, with perforated walls to enhance flow mixing and promote drug adsorption to the membrane. Results: The porous membrane provides 4 times larger surface area per length than the parallel tubes. However, the pressure drop across the porous membrane is 3 times larger, for comparable resulting drug concentration. The CFD modeling allows the Chemofilter optimization while reducing cost and minimizing animal studies.