Method and apparatus for a pulsatile blood pump with no hemolysis

A pulsatile blood pump having transducer means for housing a "C" shaped magnet providing a constant magnetic field between the north and south poles of said magnet, and tray means having a plurality of slide terminals, said tray means being insertable into a cavity of said transducer means, said pulsatile blood pump comprising:

• a disposable insert for insertion into an extracorporeal circuit, said disposable insert comprising:
• a central section having a rectangular outer surface and a constant tubular bore, said central section comprising a first electric field plate and a second electric field plate being disposed on diametrically opposite sides of said outer surface of said central section, said first and second electric field plates being respectively connected to negative and positive terminals of a voltage source for generating an electric field between said first and second electric field plates, said electric field being perpendicular to said magnetic field;
• and
• first and second end sections each having a conical shape for enabling said disposable insert to be inserted into said extracorporeal circuit, said first and second end portions each having a constant tubular bore diametrically equal to the constant tubular bore of said central section for enabling blood to flow unimpaired through said disposable insert;
• an electromagnetic flow transducer disposed in said extracorporeal circuit, downstream from said disposable insert, for detecting velocity of blood flowing from said disposable insert and generating a voltage proportional to the velocity of blood flow;
• first means, responsive to said voltage, for displaying a value corresponding to mean blood flow and generating an analog pulsatile blood flow signal;
• second means, responsive to said analog pulsatile blood flow signal, for displaying a waveform indicative of said analog pulsatile blood flow signal;
• said voltage source generating a high direct current voltage, for connection to said first and second electric field plates, in response to binary control signal;
• and
• control means for generating said binary control signal in response to a user selected one of a plurality of selectable pulsatile blood flow waveforms.

A method for pumping blood in an extracorporeal circuit, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a magnetic field;
• generating an electric field perpendicular to said magnetic field, said step of generating an electric field comprising the steps of:
• generating a binary control signal in response to a user selected one of a plurality of selectable pulsatile blood flow waveforms;
• generating a high direct current voltage in response to said binary control signal;
• and
• adjusting a potentiometer to control said high direct current voltage for setting a desired mean blood flow rate;
• exposing blood in said blood pump disposed in said extracorporeal circuit to said electric field and said magnetic field;
• and
• generating a Lorentz force on ions of said blood to pump said blood through said extracorporeal circuit in response to said electric field and said magnetic field being applied to ions in said blood.