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US 5,118,264 AGranted
Purge flow control in rotary blood pumps
AssigneeThe Cleveland Clinic Foundation
InventorWilliam A. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A blood pump includes a housing an inlet and outlet communicating with a pump chamber. A rotor received in the pump chamber is rotated by a drive motor. A drive shaft extending between the motor and rotor passes through a seal which is purged from the non-blood side by fluid. The fluid side of the seal contains a pumping element to modulate the fluid pressure, thereby controlling the purge fluid flow.
Claims30
A blood pump comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and outlet communicating with a pump chamber defined therein;
- a pump rotor having vanes received in the pump chamber;
- means for selectively rotating the pump rotor about a longitudinal axis;
- means for sealing the rotating means from the vanes;
- means within said housing for purging the sealing means with a supply of biocompatible purge fluid;
- and
- means within said housing for dynamically regulating purge fluid flow across the sealing means to control the amount of purge fluid that enters the pump chamber in response to a change in rotational speed of the pump rotor.
4 more elements
A blood pump comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and an outlet communicating with a pump chamber;
- a pump rotor that rotates about a generally longitudinal axis disposed in the pump chamber and adapted to move fluid from the inlet toward the outlet;
- a motor operatively coupled to the pump rotor for selectively driving the pump rotor;
- a drive shaft interposed between the motor and pump rotor for transferring rotary motion of the motor to the pump rotor;
- a seal defined in the housing for limiting fluid communication between the pump chamber and the motor;
- means within said housing for supplying a purge flow through the seal toward the pump chamber;
- and
- means within said housing for dynamically regulating the purge fluid flow through the seal, the regulating means including blades for modulating the purge fluid.
5 more elements
A blood pump comprising:
- a housing having an inlet and an outlet communicating with a pump chamber;
- an impeller received in the pump chamber;
- a drive shaft extending from the impeller and through a pump chamber wall to a purge fluid chamber;
- a motor operatively associated with the impeller through the drive shaft;
- a seal interposed between the impeller and the motor;
- a purge flow pump defined in the purge fluid chamber communicating with the seal for supplying an associated purge fluid thereto;
- and,
- means within said housing operatively associated with the purge flow pump for modulating purge flow pressure in response to variations in impeller rotation.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.