US 10,188,779 B1 · Implantable pump system having an undulating membrane with improved hydraulic performance

Abstract

An implantable pump system is provided, suitable for use as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) system, having an implantable pump, a battery, a controller, and a programmer. The implantable pump includes a flexible membrane coupled to an actuator assembly via a skirt that extends toward the inlet of the pump and curves to guide blood toward the outlet. The actuator assembly is magnetically engagable with electromagnetic coils, so that when the electromagnetic coils are energized, the actuator assembly causes wavelike undulations to propagate along the flexible membrane to propel blood from the inlet, across the skirt, and through the outlet of the implantable pump. The controller may be programmed by a programmer to operate at frequencies and duty cycles that mimic physiologic flow rates and pulsatility while operating in an efficient manner that avoids thrombus formation, hemolysis and/or platelet activation.

Claims22

Dependent claims

An implantable blood pump system comprising:

a housing having an inlet and an outlet and configured to be implanted at a patient's heart;
a membrane disposed within the housing;
a skirt disposed within the housing and coupled to the membrane, the skirt sized and shaped to extend toward the inlet and to curve toward the outlet;
and
an actuator disposed within the housing, the actuator configured to cause the membrane to reciprocate and deform in a wave-like manner,
wherein during operation blood enters the inlet, flows toward the skirt which guides the blood towards the membrane, and is propelled across the membrane to the outlet.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

15/953,269Filed 13 Apr 2018 · us provisional application

Priority

29 Nov 2017

Granted

29 Jan 2019

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification23 codes

A61M 60/148
Implantable via, into, inside, in line, branching on, or around a blood vessel: in line with a blood vessel using resection or like techniques,…
A61M 5/14224
Pumping with an aspiration and an expulsion action: diaphragm type
A61M 5/14276
Adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body: specially adapted for implantation
A61M 60/122
Location thereof with respect to the patient's body: implantable pumps or pumping devices, i.e. the blood being pumped inside the patient's body

Implantable pump system having an undulating membrane with improved hydraulic performance

Life of this patent

Implantable pump system having an undulating membrane with improved hydraulic performance

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims22