System for Cardiac Assistance, Method for Operating the System and Cardiac Support Method

A system for extracorporeal cardiac assistance, comprising:

• at least one suction line having an internal lumen;
• at least one pressure line having an internal lumen;
• at least one pump fluidly connected to the suction line and the pressure line, the pump being configured to pump blood to enable blood flow from the suction line to the pressure line;
• a valve;
• a control device configured to control at least one of the pump and the valve to adjust a flow rate of the blood in the pressure line,
• wherein the control device is configured to execute a support mode in which at least one of the pump and the valve applies pressure pulses to the blood, and
• wherein the control device is configured to execute a weaning in which at least one of the pump and the valve applies pressure pulses to the blood,
• wherein pressure applied on the blood by the pressure pulses of the weaning mode is lower than pressure applied on the blood by the pressure pulses of the support mode,
• wherein the pressure pulses, in both the support mode and the weaning mode, are synchronized with a heartbeat of the patient.

A method for operating a cardiac assistance system, comprising:

• extracorporeally pumping blood to create a blood flow from a suction line to a pressure line by operating at least one pump,
• operating the at least one pump, using a control device, to adjust a flow rate of the blood in the pressure line according to a currently executed mode of the system,
• wherein the control device operates the at least one pump in a support mode to generate a plurality of consecutive support pressure pulses interposed on the blood flow, substantially synchronized to a heartbeat of a heart supported by the system in use, and
• wherein the control device operates the at least one pump in a weaning mode to generate a plurality of consecutive weaning pressure pulses interposed on the blood flow, essentially synchronized to a heartbeat of the heart supported by the system in use,
• wherein pressure applied on the blood by the pressure pulses in the weaning mode is lower than pressure applied on the blood by the pressure pulses in the support mode.