Ventricular assist device capable of promoting recovery of cardiac function

Abstract

A ventricular assist device 10 includes a blood conduit 14, which carries the blood ejected from the ventricle to the ventricular assist device, a one-way valve 22, which is provided in the blood conduit and can open only toward the ventricular assist device, an afterload-controlling chamber 11, which temporarily stores the blood ejected from the ventricle, a pressure sensor 23, which measures the pressure in the afterload-controlling chamber, a blood pump 25 and a control unit 26 thereof, a blood conduit 16 that carries the blood to an artery, and a probe 27 for measuring blood flow rate and a flowmeter 28, which control the flow rate of the blood pump 25. The pressure of the afterload-controlling chamber 11 is controlled so as to keep the one-way valve closed during ventricular diastole, and also controlled so as to direct all the blood ejected from the ventricle into the afterload-controlling chamber 11 during ventricular systole. Therefore, a new ventricular assist device can be provided, which enables the native heart to eject blood with very low ejection resistance and ensures sufficient ventricular relaxation and filling.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.