Blood pump having radial vanes with enclosed magnetic drive components

A pump for transferring fluids and comprising a pumping chamber with an inner periphery, an outer periphery and a central axis, a pair of fluid inlet ports arranged in oppositely disposed relationship on said chamber and coaxially with said pumping chamber, an outlet port means arranged transversely and generally medially of said pair of inlet ports, a rotor disposed within said pumping chamber and having a dual conical configuration converging toward opposed polar regions and having an axis of rotation extending between said polar regions and arranged coaxially with the axis of said pumping chamber during operational rotation of said rotor, magnetic driven means arranged on said rotor at radially spaced locations generally symmetrically along said axis of rotation, electromagnetic drive means coupled to a source of energy and arranged to deliver rotational driving energy to said rotor through said magnetic driven means;

• said rotor comprising:
• (a) a body having a density relative to the fluid being pumped substantially less than that of the fluid being pumped and within a range of between about 0.1 and 0.9;
• (b) said body having an axial length and with the axial length along said axis of rotation defining the axial length of said pumping chamber disposed between said inlet ports;
• and with the diameter of said rotor body transverse to said axis of rotation defining a medial plane and the axial length and the diameter being selected to provide a clearance between the outer surface of said rotor and the inner surface of said pumping chamber;
• (c) a plurality of radial vanes mounted on the outer peripheral surfaces of said rotor and extending in an axial direction from a plane through the center of said rotor transverse to the axis of rotation thereof, and with the outer peripheral edges of said vanes being spaced from the inner peripheral surface of said housing along an approximately constant dimension and with the cross-sectional area of the inlet ports being substantially equal to that of the outlet ports, thereby providing for hydrodynamic balance of said rotor.