Enhancing Left Ventricular Assist Device Usability: A Comparative Simulation Study of CorWave and HeartMate 3 Peripherals

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) improve outcomes but often compromise quality of life (QoL) due to usability issues with wearables. This study compared the usability of CorWave LVAD (CW) peripherals prototypes to HeartMate 3 LVAD (HM3) peripherals through a cross-sectional, simulation-based approach involving LVAD-naive laypeople, and heart transplantation (HTX) patients post-LVAD support. Simulations encompassed six tasks, measuring initial success rates, duration to success, pump-off time, and a post-scenario survey. Forty-six untrained participants (16 CW vs. 30 HM3; 12.5% vs. 20% female, p = 0.69; 56.2% vs. 50.0% HTX patients, p = 0.76) completed 276 scenarios. The CW cohort demonstrated superior initial success rates (92.7% vs. 80.6%, p = 0.008). Battery exchanges (in normal and dim light, within carry bag) were completed twice as quickly for CW users (p ≤ 0.001). Although controller exchange success rates were comparable, the duration to success and pump-off times were doubled for the HM3 cohort (p ≤ 0.005). During the "connection to AC power" scenario, HM3 subjects experienced higher complexity, as the CW cohort achieved 5× lower duration to success and 3× higher initial success rates (p ≤ 0.001). Survey responses favored CW cable lengths (92.9% vs. 69.0%, p = 0.001). This study highlights the advantages of CW's user-centered design, which may enhance QoL and safety for future LVAD patients.