Back to results
US 10,520,025 B1Granted
Bearing assembly for use in axial-flow cardiopulmonary bypass blood pumps and related pumps
AssigneeUS Synthetic Corporation
InventorsS. Barrett Peterson, Michael A. Vail
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention relate to bearing assemblies and associated cardiopulmonary bypass blood pumps in which the bearing assembly includes a stator and a rotor each including bearing surfaces oriented so as to be generally opposed to one another. The bearing surface may comprise a polycrystalline diamond material including a plurality of bonded diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions therebetween, in which a non-metallic catalyst (e.g., a carbonate) and/or at least one derivative thereof is disposed interstitially between the bonded diamond grains.
Claims27
A bearing assembly for use within a cardiopulmonary bypass blood pump, the bearing assembly comprising:
- a bearing stator and a bearing rotor, each of the bearing stator and the bearing rotor including bearing surfaces that contact each other and/or form a fluid film layer therebetween during operation;
- each of the bearing stator and the bearing rotor including a polycrystalline diamond element having an associated bearing surface, each polycrystalline diamond element including a plurality of bonded diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions therebetween;
- wherein at least one of the plurality of interstitial regions include at least one of a non-metallic catalyst or at least one non-metallic catalyst derivative;
- or
- substantially all of a catalyst material has been leached from the plurality of interstitial regions;
- wherein the bearing stator at least partially defines a passageway configured to conduct fluid flow and the bearing surface thereof includes only a single bearing surface.
3 more elements
An axial-flow blood pump for use in cardiopulmonary bypass treatment, the axial-flow blood pump comprising:
- a housing including an inlet at a first end and an outlet at a second end;
- a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet, the rotatable shaft including an inlet end and an outlet end, the rotatable shaft including at least one blade on an exterior surface thereof configured to direct blood towards the outlet;
- a motor configured to rotate the rotatable shaft about a longitudinal axis;
- an inlet bearing assembly disposed at the inlet end of the rotatable shaft, the inlet bearing assembly including an inlet stator and an inlet rotor;
- an outlet bearing assembly disposed at the outlet end of the rotatable shaft, the outlet bearing assembly including an outlet stator and an outlet rotor;
- wherein each of the inlet stator, inlet rotor, outlet stator, and outlet rotor includes a polycrystalline diamond element including a bearing surface, wherein the bearing surface of the inlet stator and the bearing surface of the inlet rotor contact each other and/or form a first fluid film layer therebetween duration operation, wherein the bearing surface of the outlet stator is opposed to the bearing surface of the outlet rotor contact each other and/or form a second fluid film layer therebetween duration operation,
- wherein at least one of the inlet stator or the outlet stator at least partially defines a passageway configured to conduct fluid flow and the bearing surface thereof includes only a single bearing surface;
- and
- wherein each of the polycrystalline diamond elements comprises a plurality of bonded diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions therebetween, wherein at least one of:
- the plurality of interstitial regions include at least one of a non-metallic catalyst or at least one non-metallic catalyst derivative;
- or
- substantially all of a catalyst material has been leached from the plurality of interstitial regions.
9 more elements
An axial-flow blood pump for use in cardiopulmonary bypass treatment, the axial-flow blood pump comprising:
- a housing including an inlet at a first end, an outlet at a second end, and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween;
- a rotatable shaft disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet, the rotatable shaft including an inlet end and an outlet end, the rotatable shaft including at least one blade on an exterior surface thereof configured to direct blood towards the outlet;
- a motor operatively coupled to the rotatable shaft and configured to rotate the rotatable shaft about the longitudinal axis;
- an inlet bearing assembly disposed at the inlet end of the rotatable shaft, the inlet bearing assembly including an inlet stator and an inlet rotor, each of the inlet stator and the inlet rotor including bearing surfaces opposed to one another, wherein at least a portion of the bearing surface of the inlet rotor exhibits a conically-shaped geometry;
- an outlet bearing assembly disposed at the outlet end of the rotatable shaft, the outlet bearing assembly including an outlet stator and an outlet rotor, each of the outlet stator and the outlet rotor including bearing surfaces opposed to one another, wherein at least a portion of the bearing surface of the outlet rotor exhibits a conically-shaped geometry;
- and
- at least one annular seal member that seals against the rotatable shaft and seals a bearing compartment, the bearing compartment including one of the inlet bearing assembly or the outlet bearing assembly;
- wherein each of the bearing surfaces of the inlet stator, inlet rotor, outlet stator, and outlet rotor includes polycrystalline diamond element comprising a plurality of bonded diamond grains defining a plurality of interstitial regions therebetween, wherein at least one of the plurality of interstitial regions include at least one of a nonmetallic catalyst or at least one non-metallic catalyst derivative;
- or
- substantially all of a catalyst material has been leached from the plurality of interstitial regions;
- wherein at least one of:
- at least one of the inlet rotor or the outlet rotor includes one or more grooves;
- or
- at least one of the inlet stator or the outlet stator at least partially defines a passageway configured to conduct fluid flow.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.