The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of the

United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Micromed Technology, Inc.

Bernard J Rosenbaum

Robert J Benkowski

James W Bacak

George E Petter

Michael E DeBakey

Joseph A Gessler

Michael G Hughes

Dochan Kwak

Cetin Kiris

Michael E Debakey

An apparatus for launching an aircraft having a multiplicity of interconnected elongated tracks of rigid material forming a track system and wherein each elongated track has a predetermined elongated track cross-sectional design, a winch system connected to the track system wherein the winch system has a variable mechanical advantage, one or more elongated elastic members wherein one end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members is adjustably connected to the track system, and a carrier slidably mounted to the track system wherein the carrier is connected to the winch system and to the other end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members.

Portable catapult launcher for small aircraft

A system for coupling a vascular overflow graft or cannula to a heart pump. A pump pipe outlet is provided with an external tapered surface which receives the end of a compressible cannula. An annular compression ring with a tapered internal bore surface is arranged about the cannula with the tapered internal surface in a facing relationship to the external tapered surface. The angle of inclination of the tapered surfaces is converging such that the spacing between the tapered surfaces decreases from one end of the external tapered surface to the other end thereby providing a clamping action of the tapered surface on a cannula which increases as a function of the length of cannula segment between the tapered surfaces. The annular compression ring is disposed within a tubular locking nut which threadedly couples to the pump and provides a compression force for urging the annular ring onto the cannula between the tapered surfaces. The nut has a threaded connection to the pump body. The threaded coupling to the pump body provides a compression force for the annular ring. The annular ring has an annular enclosure space in which excess cannula material from the compression between the tapered surfaces to 'bunch up' in the space and serve as an enlarged annular ring segment to assist holding the cannula in place. The clamped cannula provides a seamless joint connection to the pump pipe outlet where the clamping force is uniformly applied to the cannula because of self alignment of the tapered surfaces. The nut can be easily disconnected to replace the pump if necessary.

Tubular coupling

A blood pump that comprises a pump housing having a blood flow path therethrough, a blood inlet, and a blood outlet; a stator mounted to the pump housing, the stator having a stator field winding for producing a stator magnetic field; a flow straightener located within the pump housing, and comprising a flow straightener hub and at least one flow straightener blade attached to the flow straightener hub; a rotor mounted within the pump housing for rotation in response to the stator magnetic field, the rotor comprising an inducer and an impeller; the inducer being located downstream of the flow straightener, and comprising an inducer hub and at least one inducer blade attached to the inducer hub; the impeller being located downstream of the inducer, and comprising an impeller hub and at least one impeller blade attached to the impeller hub; and preferably also comprising a diffuser downstream of the impeller, the diffuser comprising a diffuser hub and at least one diffuser blade. Blood flow stagnation and clot formation within the pump are minimized by, among other things, providing the inducer hub with a diameter greater than the diameter of the flow straightener hub; by optimizing the axial spacing between the flow straightener hub and the inducer hub, and between the impeller hub and the diffuser hub; by optimizing the inlet angle of the diffuser blades; and by providing fillets or curved transitions between the upstream end of the inducer hub and the shaft mounted therein, and between the impeller hub and the shaft mounted therein.

Rotary blood pump

Growing community of inventors

Seabrook, TX, United States of America

Bernard J Rosenbaum