Cage for right-sided cardiac pump

A catheter for insertion into a patient's vasculature, the catheter extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising:

• a catheter body comprising a distal end and a proximal end;
• a pump assembly disposed at the distal end of the catheter body and comprising a distal end portion;
• a cannula connected to the distal end portion of the pump assembly and comprising a proximal cannula portion and a distal cannula portion;
• one or more inlet ports disposed proximal the proximal cannula portion;
• one or more outlet ports disposed proximal the distal cannula portion;
• and
• a cage connected to the cannula and the pump assembly, extending along the longitudinal axis and in a circumferential direction about the longitudinal axis surrounding the one or more cannular inlet ports and comprising:
• a first section and a second section connected to the first section along the longitudinal axis, the first section being spaced from the one or more cannula input ports along the longitudinal axis and the second section being disposed over the one or more inlet ports in a radial direction;
• and
• a plurality of cage inlet ports comprising:
• a first plurality of cage inlet ports disposed in the first section of the cage, each of the first plurality of cage inlet ports comprising a first area;
• and
• a second plurality of cage inlet ports disposed in the second section of the cage, each of the second plurality of cage inlet ports comprising a second area,
• the pump assembly being operable to cause fluid to flow (i) through the first plurality of cage inlet ports and through the second plurality of cage inlet ports, (ii) through the one or more inlet ports, and (iii) through the one or more outlet ports.

A medical system comprising:

• a catheter extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising:
• a catheter body comprising a distal end and a proximal end;
• a pump assembly disposed at the distal end of the catheter body and comprising a distal end portion;
• a cannula connected to the distal end portion of the pump assembly and comprising a proximal cannula portion and a distal cannula portion;
• one or more inlet ports disposed proximal the proximal cannula portion;
• one or more outlet ports disposed proximal the distal cannula portion;
• and
• a cage connected to the cannula and the pump assembly, disposed over the one or more inlet ports, and comprising a plurality of cage inlet ports, the cage extending along the longitudinal axis and in a circumferential direction about the longitudinal axis;
• and
• a controller connected to the proximal end of the catheter body and configured to operate the pump assembly to cause fluid to flow through the cage inlet ports, through the one or more inlet ports, and through the one or more outlet ports.