Kyocera Corporation

Baylor College of Medicine

Ichiro Sakuma

Yukihiko Nose

Setsuo Takatani

Kenzo Makinouchi

Yasuhisa Ohara

A centrifugal blood pump, used for heart-lung machines or the like, having at least one impeller, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, the casing formed to have a space for rotatably housing the at least one impeller and a magnetic drive disposed outside the casing. The impeller may have vanes attached thereto for forcing fluid through the casing. Further the vanes may have magnets imbedded therein. The magnetic drive and the imbedded magnets cooperate to rotate the impeller. The impeller may have pivots integrated at opposing ends for allowing the impeller to rotate about a horizontal axis. The pivots may be supported by pivot bearings disposed within the casing. The pivots and the pivot bearings may be made of a ceramic material.

Ceramic pivot bearing arrangement for a sealless blood pump

A centrifugal blood pump, used for heart-lung machines or the like, comprises an impeller, a casing having a suction inlet and a delivery outlet and being equipped with a space for rotatably accommodating the impeller, and a magnetic drive means disposed outside the casing. The impeller is of a rotationally symmetric shape and has a rotary vane section and a cylindrical section equipped with a magnet means. The magnet drive means for generating a rotating magnetic field coaxially encloses the magnet means of the above-mentioned cylindrical section and rotates the impeller in cooperation with the magnet means. At least the end section of the impeller's rotation center on the rotary vane section side is supported preferably by a pivot bearing. The pivot and the bearing thereof are preferably made of ceramics.

Growing community of inventors

Tsurugashima, Japan

Ichiro Sakuma