Cantilevered rotor pump and methods for axial flow blood pumping
AssigneeTc1 LLC
InventorWilliam V. Hodges
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Blood pump devices having improved rotor design are provided herein. Such blood pump devices include rotors having cantilevered support through a sealed mechanical bearing disposed outside a blood flow path of the device so as to avoid thrombus formation caused by blood contact with the bearing. The bearing means can be rotatably coupled with a proximal portion of the rotor shaft extending outside the fluid path, while a stator drives rotation of the rotor shaft so that one or more rotor blades on a distal portion of the rotor force blood flow through the device. The bearing means may include one or more radial bearings on a proximal portion of the rotor shaft that are isolated from the blood flow path by one or more rotary seals.
Claims20
An implantable blood pump comprising:
- a pump housing defining a blood flow passage therethrough;
- a rotor including a rotatable shaft and one or more rotor blades extending laterally from the rotatable shaft, wherein the rotor extends at least partly within the passage such that the one or more rotor blades are disposed within the blood flow path to facilitate blood flow through the passage upon rotation of the rotatable shaft,
- wherein the rotatable shaft is rotatably coupled within the pump housing through a sealed mechanical bearing assembly disposed outside the blood flow passage so as to inhibit thrombus formation by avoiding contact between the bearing assembly and any blood flowing through the blood flow passage during operation of the blood pump, wherein the rotatable shaft is rotatably supported entirely by the sealed mechanical bearing assembly such that the blood pump is without any blood washed bearings in fluid communication with the blood flow path;
- and
- a rotation means adapted for driving rotation of the rotatable shaft.
A blood pump comprising:
- a housing with an inner wall defining an inlet, an outlet downstream from the inlet, and a blood flow path between the inlet and the outlet;
- a rotor extending between proximal and distal ends, the rotor including a magnetic material therein and extending distally into the blood flow path;
- a motor stator positioned about the blood flow path between the inlet and the outlet, the motor stator, during operation, configured to generate a magnetic field for rotating the rotor so as to force blood along the blood flow path by rotation of one or more rotor blades along a distal portion of the rotor;
- and
- a sealed mechanical bearing rotatably coupling a proximal portion of the rotor with the pump housing, the sealed mechanical bearing being disposed outside of the blood flow path, wherein the rotor is rotatably suspended entirely by the sealed mechanical bearing such that the blood pump is without any blood washed bearings in fluid communication with the blood flow path.
A method of pumping blood with a blood pump, the method comprising:
- operating a blood pump so as to transport blood along a blood flow path through a pump housing of the blood flow pump, wherein operating the blood pump comprises rotating a rotor by use of a stator extending about the blood flow path so that movement of one or more rotor blades on a distal portion of the rotor forces blood along the blood flow path;
- and
- maintaining a position and/or alignment of the rotor during rotation by rotatably securing the rotor with a sealed mechanical bearing disposed outside the blood flow path thereby inhibiting thrombus formation in the sealed mechanical bearing, wherein the rotor is without any blood washed bearings in fluid communication with the blood flow path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.