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US 11,806,518 B2Granted
Passive thrust bearing angle
AssigneeHeartWare, Inc.
InventorsChristopher M. Michelena, David A. Schafir, Fernando Casas, Mustafa Ertan Taskin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An implantable blood pump includes a tube including an inner wall, and wherein during operation of the blood pump, the impeller rotates within the tube and a distance between the inner wall of the tube and the thrust bearing decreases as a speed of the impeller increases.
Claims20
An impeller for an implantable blood pump, comprising:
- at least one deformable thrust bearing disposed on a surface of a body of the impeller, wherein the deformable thrust bearing is configured to experience centrifugal forces when the body of the impellor rotates, and
- wherein the deformable thrust bearing is configured to deform outward relative to the surface when the deformable thrust bearing experiences the centrifugal forces.
An impeller for an implantable blood pump, comprising:
- a hub defining a plurality of blades radially disposed about the hub;
- an electronics module disposed within the hub, the electronics module including a kinematic energy harvesting system to convert rotational energy of the impeller during operation into electrical energy.
An impeller for an implantable blood pump, comprising:
- at least one deformable thrust bearing disposed on a surface of a body of the impeller, the impeller including a plurality of blades disposed about the body,
- wherein the implantable blood pump includes a tube including an inner wall,
- wherein the impeller is configured to rotate within the tube,
- wherein the deformable thrust bearing is configured to deform outward relative to the surface when the impellor rotates within the tube and the deformable thrust bearing experiences centrifugal forces,
- wherein the thrust bearing defines a pocket depth,
- wherein the deformable thrust bearing is configured to decrease the pocket depth as a speed of the impeller increases, and
- wherein the deformable thrust bearing is configured to increase the pocket depth as the speed of the impeller decreases.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.