US 10,371,152 B2 · Alternating pump gaps

Abstract

A blood pump system includes a pump housing and an impeller for rotating in a pump chamber within the housing. The impeller has a first side and a second side opposite the first side. The system includes a stator having drive coils for applying a torque to the impeller and at least one bearing mechanism for suspending the impeller within the pump chamber. The system includes a position control mechanism for moving the impeller in an axial direction within the pump chamber to adjust a size of a first gap and a size of a second gap, thereby controlling a washout rate at each of the first gap and the second gap. The first gap is defined by a distance between the first side and the housing and the second gap is defined by a distance between the second side and the pump housing.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A blood pump system, comprising:

a pump housing;
an impeller for rotating in a pump chamber within the housing;
a stator comprising drive coils for applying force to the impeller;
a field oriented control (FOC) device for controlling the drive coils;
at least one bearing mechanism for suspending the impeller within the pump chamber;
a sensing circuit for determining an axial position of the impeller;
and
a position control mechanism for moving the impeller in an axial direction between a first eccentric position and a second eccentric position within the pump chamber by controlling, based on the axial position of the impeller, a stator coil flux current provided to the FOC device, independent of a quadrature current provided by a speed control device to the FOC device to control a torque applied to the impeller.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Alternating pump gaps

Life of this patent

Alternating pump gaps

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16