Beiersdorf Ag

B. Braun Melsungen Ag

Baxter International Inc.

Medac Gesellschaft Fur Klinische Spezialpraparate Mbh

Guidant Corporation

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Impella Cardiotechnik Aktiengesellschaft

Medos Medizintechnik Gmbh

Forschungsgesellschaft Fur Biomedizinische Technik E.v.

Dr. E. Fresenius, Chem.-pharm. Industrie Kg

Impella Cardiotechnik Gmbh

Helmut Reul

Gunter Rau

Guenter Rau

Thorsten Siess

Martin Knoch

Hanns Pietsch

Holger Kartheus

Gunther Sachau

Hans-Joachim Holtzmann

Dieter Westphal

Peter S Brown

Michael Kast

Jens Hutzenlaub

Gunther Rau

Horst Peter Heimes

Dhanjoo N Ghista

Ernst-Wilhelm Muller

Harald Engelhardt

Ralf Kaufmann

Ralf Bitdinger

A blood pump having a motor housing and a pump housing which are rigidly connected to one another in an axially spaced relationship. Both housings are of substantially the same diameter and are sized to enable the pump to be introduced via catheter through the body's blood-vessel system. The impeller is mounted in the pump housing on a longitudinally and radially acting bearing designed as a point-support bearing. To avoid oscillation of the impeller, it is fitted with an alignment device which may have a hydrodynamic or mechanical action. Rotation of the motor is transferred to the impeller via a magnetic coupling.

Intravascular blood pump

Blood pump

A cannula for use as for example on the inflow end of an implantable intravascular heart pump. The stiffness of the cannula is differentiated along its length, wherein its proximal end is stiffer than its distal end, while a substantially constant wall thickness is maintained along its entire length. Attached to the flexible distal end, is a rigid tip component having inlet ports and an interior surface profile that minimizes the risk of hemolysis and thrombogenisis.

Cannula having constant wall thickness with increasing distal

An intravascular microaxial pump has an integrated configuration that enables both the drive unit as well as the pumping segment to be advanced through a patient's vasculature. The device includes elements that enhance pumping efficiency and performance while minimizing shear and cavitation. Cost reduction is achieved in the reusability of certain components while a manufacturing method reduces the labor involved in the pump's assembly.

Method and apparatus for cardiac blood flow assistance

A magnetically-driven centrifugal blood pump includes a housing and an impeller mounted for rotation within. The impeller includes a generally disk-shaped base plate and a plurality of curvilinear vanes extending axially upward therefrom. The vanes project radially outward from the base plate approximately one-third of their curvilinear length. The housing includes a rear wall spaced from the impeller base plate across a constant gap, with a sloped transition wall surrounding the rear wall and joining it to a peripheral wall. A tangential outlet is provided in the peripheral wall. A front wall extends inward from the peripheral wall with a slight conicity to an axial inlet. The vanes each have a front edge which slopes away from the front wall in the radially outward direction to provide a widening gap therebetween. The vanes have inner ends which together define a vane-free inner region below and slightly larger than the inlet. The curvature of each vane changes along its length, and a tangent angle progresses from the inner end to the outer end according to a preferred formula. Desirably, the impeller includes a pair of low magnetic retentivity plates, such as steel, which are driven by an external drive which sets up a rotating magnetic field.

Centrifugal blood pump

Blood pump as centrifugal pump

A blood pump housing (43) accommodates at least one piston (21a,21b) driven by a coupling point (19a,19b) on a triangular closed hypocycloidal path (Z.sub.a, Z.sub.b). The piston (21a,21b) is provided for periodically pressing and releasing a blood chamber (37a,37b). One of the corners of the triangular closed hypocycloidal path (Z.sub.a,Z.sub.b) is directed towards the piston (21a,21b), so that the piston movements substantially consist of three periods, i.e. an advance stroke period, a return stroke period and a stationary stroke period.

Blood pump for pulsating operation

An apparatus for determining the partial pressure of a gas dissolved in a fluid which includes a catheter consisting of a double bored coaxial catheter having an outer tube and a spaced coaxial inner tube, the outer tube being permeable to the gas being measured, together with a pump for delivering a continuous flow of a carrier fluid into the space between the inner tube and the outer tube. A measuring device is located downstream of the catheter for determining the partial pressure of the gas in the carrier fluid. A mass transfer unit receives the gas after the measuring device and is arranged to bring the partial pressure of the gas in the carrier fluid to a predetermined value.

Apparatus for the determination of the partial pressure of gases

An antithrombogenic, non-calcifying, and elastic material on a basis of polyurethane, characterized by the addition of fatty-acid esters and optionally by the further addition of cross-linking agents that react with water.

Antithrombogenic, non-calcifying material and method of making articles

A heart valve prosthesis, the inner surface of the valve ring of which continuously narrows in flow direction, is provided with a special manner of supporting the closing members. The valve ring is provided with sector-shaped recesses into which a respective oblong journal pin of the closing member extends. In the opening and closing movement, the journal pin sweeps the bottom of the recess like a windshield wiper. Thus, a formation of thrombi in the vicinity of the bearings is prevented.

Heart valve prosthesis

In a cardiac valve prosthesis, the journal pins, by which the closing body is supported to be swiveled in the valve ring, are received in through holes of the valve ring and can be moved into different positions in these through holes. Thereby, the journal pins are subjected to a circumfluent blood streams, reducing the danger of thrombi being formed at the supporting areas.

Cardiac valve prosthesis

A cardiac valve prosthesis in which each closing body has a skeleton line which is curved in the area of the swivel axis. The curved area is followed by a rectilinear area, thus causing a linear cross sectional enlargement in the outlet region of the passage formed by the closing bodies. The opening and closing behavior of the cardiac valve becomes more stable, deadwater ares and vortex formation are largely avoided and natural blood flow is substantially undeviated.

An antithrombogenic, non-calcifying, and elastic material on a basis of polyurethane, characterized by the addition of fatty-acid esters and optionally by the further addition of cross-linking agent that react with water.

A cardiac valve prosthesis in which the inner area of the valve ring has an internal cross section continuously decreasing in flow direction. The valve ring is shaped like a nozzle, and flow disruption occurs only at the nozzle end, allowing a concentric flow discharge. Vortex formation at the jet boundary and inside the flow is inhibited. As a result, flow resistance is reduced and blood damage is minimized. A flushing channel traverses the joint cavity in order to avoid deposits of blood particles in the valvular joint.

Growing community of inventors

Dueren, Germany

Helmut Reul