Abiomed Europe Gmbh

Abiomed, Inc.

Ecp Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mbh

Spence, Paul A.

Spanier, Gerd

Kung, Bob

Hastie, Caitlyn

Dowling, Rob

Gratz, Eric

Siess, Thorsten

Gerd Spanier

Thorsten Siess

Paul A Spence

Eric Gratz

Robert T V Kung

Rob Dowling

Frank Kirchhoff

Ralph Louis D'Ambrosio

Maxim Daschewski

Walid Aboulhosn

Caitlyn Hastie

Joerg Schumacher

Michael Thomas Finnegan

Bruce Adams

Dirk Michels

Bob Kung

Jimpo Wang

Jörg Schumacher

Valentin Neblik

Tino Andreas Boelke

Christoph Nix

Jim-Po Wang

Robert Tv Kung

Robert Dowling

Zhongwei Qi

Dion Mraz

Claudia Mourran

Thomas Siess

Smriti Singh

Ralph Louis D'ambrosio

Hastie Caitlyn

Thorsten Sieß

Paul Spence

An improved intravascular blood pump. Intravascular blood pumps using the present technology may be powered by an onboard motor unit configured to be located inside the patient's body, but which is separated from the pump unit by a flexible intermediate section housing a flexible drive shaft.

Intravascular blood pump

Rotor for a medical device

An intravascular blood pump includes a pump housing having an input port and an output port. A relatively short intake cannula may draw blood in through an intake port and deliver the blood to the input port of the pump housing. The intake cannula is relatively short, to prevent excess hydraulic loss. An outflow hose is connected to the output port of the pump housing, so as to convey blood exiting the output port through the outflow hose in a downstream direction to a discharge port, e.g. into an aorta or other blood vessel. Despite the short intake cannula, the outflow hose longitudinally separates the intake port from the discharge port sufficiently so the intake port and the discharge port remain on opposite sides of a heart valve, despite inadvertent longitudinal shifts of the intravascular heart pump.

Intravascular blood pump with outflow hose

An external drive unit for an implantable heart assist pump is provided. The drive unit comprises a motor housing, a transcutaneous drive shaft and a motor for driving the heart assist pump. The motor is connectable to the heart assist pump via the drive shaft, and the motor is arranged inside the motor housing. The drive unit further comprises a catheter surrounding the drive shaft and a purge line for injecting a purge medium into a lumen of the catheter or into a space between the catheter and the drive shaft. The purge line is in thermal contact with an outer surface of the motor housing and/or with an outer surface of a proximal section of the catheter. Due to the thermal contact heat is transferred from the outer surface of the catheter in the proximal section and/or from the outer surface of the motor housing to the purge medium.

External drive unit for an implantable heart assist pump

A blood pump for supporting a patient's heart includes a flow cannula having a distal portion including a distal end and a proximal portion including a proximal end opposite the distal end, the distal end of the flow cannula configured to be connected to the patient's heart or a blood vessel to establish fluid communication between the blood pump and the patient's heart and blood vessel, respectively. The flow cannula further includes an intermediate portion attached to the distal portion and the proximal portion, wherein the intermediate portion allows twisting thereof with a lower force than the distal portion and the proximal portion. The intermediate portion can be fully occluded by twisting it. At least a portion of the intermediate portion either alone or in combination with the distal portion is adapted to be permanently attached to the patient's heart or a blood vessel.

Blood pump with flow cannula

Aspects of the present technology relate to compressible and expandable pumps. In one aspect, a pump is provided including a pump housing that is expandable and compressible and a rotor that is expandable and compressible and disposed in the pump housing. The rotor includes at least one rotor blade, a hub, and an axis of rotation. At least a portion of the at least one rotor blade extends from the hub along a first axis that is offset a predetermined distance from a radial axis of the rotor that traverses the axis of rotation. The pump further includes a drive shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the hub of the rotor is mounted to the distal end of the drive shaft and the drive shaft is rotated to rotate the rotor.

Pump including a compressible rotor having offset rotor blades

The application relates to an external drive unit () for an implantable heart assist pump. The proposed drive unit () comprises a motor () for driving the heart assist pump, wherein the motor () is connectable to the heart assist pump via a transcutaneous drive shaft (). The drive unit () further comprises a heat spreader () comprising a contact surface configured to contact and/or directly contact and/or lie flat against a skin of a patient. The contact surface is connected or connectable with the motor () in a thermally-conductive manner to transfer heat generated by the motor () to tissue of the patient.

A blood pump comprises a pump section and a flow cannula. A proximal end portion of the flow cannula is connected to the pump section such that blood can enter the blood flow inlet, and a distal end portion of the flow cannula includes at least one blood flow-through opening for blood to enter the flow cannula. The distal end portion comprises an enlarged diameter portion, with at least a major portion of the blood flow-through opening being disposed in the enlarged diameter portion. The blood pump further comprises a sleeve overlapping the enlarged diameter portion. The sleeve has a structure that prevents its distal end from bending radially inwards into the blood flow-through openings.

Blood pump

The invention relates to a blood pump. The blood pump comprises a flexible drive shaft guided in a catheter, a conveying element connected to the drive shaft in a distal region of the drive shaft, and a motor, wherein the motor has a stator and a rotor mounted such that it can move in the stator. The stator comprises a winding and the rotor comprises a rotor magnet. In addition, the drive shaft is connected to the rotor at a proximal end of the drive shaft. The stator and the rotor are nondetachably connected to one another, and form a gap with a ring-shaped cross-section, which is delimited by the rotor and the stator.

A method of operating a counterpulsation device (CPD) in a human or animal subject is disclosed, the method including: receiving a heart beat signal indicative of the heart beat of the subject; providing counterpulsation therapy by controlling the pressure supplied to a CPD drive line in pneumatic communication with the CPD to cause the CPD to alternately fill with blood and eject blood with a timing that is determined at least in part based on the heart beat signal; while providing counterpulsation therapy, receiving a CPD drive line pressure signal indicative of the pressure in the CPD drive line; and adjusting the pressure supplied to the drive line based at least in part on the drive line pressure signal.

Counterpulsation device driver apparatus, method and system

A blood pump assembly can include various components such as a housing and a sensor configured to detect one or more characteristics of the blood. In some embodiments, the sensor can be coupled to the housing and can include a sensor membrane configured to deflect in response to a change in a blood parameter (e.g., pressure). The blood pump assembly can include a shield that covers at least a portion of the sensor membrane so as to protect the sensor from damage when the blood pump assembly is inserted through an introducer and navigated through the patient's vasculature and/or when the blood pump assembly is inserted into the heart in a surgical procedure. One or more protective layers can be deposited over the sensor membrane to prevent the sensor membrane from being dissolved through interactions with the patient's blood.

Blood pump assembly having a sensor and a sensor shield

An intravascular blood pump has an intake filter that reduces risk of heart tissue being sucked into an intake port of the pump. The filter defines a plurality of apertures, through which blood flows through the filter. The apertures are sized to prevent ingestion, by the input port, of the heart tissue. The filter includes a plurality of generally helical first struts wound about a longitudinal axis of the filter, and a plurality of second struts. The first and second struts collectively define the plurality of apertures therebetween. The struts may be woven filaments, or the apertures may be defined in a thin film (foil) tube, where remaining material between the apertures form the struts.

Intravascular blood pump with intake filter

A rotor for a pump, such as a blood pump, may include a hub configured to rotate around a central axis, and at least one rotor blade coupled to and extending away from an outer surface of the hub, the rotor blade comprising a medical-grade polyurethane, the rotor blade configured to have a crimped state and a running state. The medical-grade polyurethane may be configured for casting or injection molding, and upon curing, the medical-grade material advantageously has a shore A hardness of 90-100, or a shore B hardness of 35-55, and a Young's modulus of 60 MPa-250 MPa. When crimped, the rotor blades are compressed and exposed to strains of up to about 160% in a dry environment at temperatures of 20-25° C. When running, the rotor blades are expanded and exposed to strains of up to 10% in a wet environment at temperatures of 36-38° C.

Compressible rotor

An intravascular blood pump comprises a pump casing having a blood flow inlet and a blood flow outlet, and an impeller arranged in said pump casing so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, wherein the impeller has blades sized and shaped for conveying blood from the blood flow inlet to the blood flow outlet. The blood pump further comprises a drive unit for rotating the impeller, the drive unit comprising a plurality of posts arranged about the axis of rotation, wherein each of the posts includes a shaft portion and a head portion. Coil windings around the posts are sequentially controllable so as to create a rotating magnetic field. The drive unit further comprises a back plate which engages ends of the shaft portions of the posts opposite the head portions.

A centrifugal blood pump without a mechanical bearing comprises a pump casing (), an impeller () arranged in the pump casing rotatably about the central axis and freely movable axially and radially within a limited clearance. The impeller has per-manent magnets or permanently magnetized magnetic regions (N/S) which cooperate with an electromagnetic drive to set the impeller rotating. A circular wall () or circularly arranged wall sections are provided within the pump casing, their inner surfaces defining a radial clearance together with the outer circumference of the impeller to form a hydrodynamic radial bearing for the impeller.

Growing community of inventors

Aachen, Germany

Gerd Spanier