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

Other

University of Pittsburgh

Nelson J Groom

James F Antaki

Bradley Evan Paden

Gregory W Burgreen

Willard W Anderson

William H Phillips

Williard W Anderson

A blood pump preferably has a magnetically suspended rotor that rotates within a housing. The rotor may rotate about a stator disposed within the housing. Radial magnetic bearings may be defined within the stator and the rotor in order to suspend the rotor. The radial magnetic bearings may be passive magnetic bearings that include permanent magnets disposed within the stator and the rotor or active magnetic bearings. The pump may further include an axial magnetic bearing that may be either a passive or an active magnetic bearing. A motor that drives the rotor may be disposed within the housing in order to more easily dissipate heat generated by the motor. A primary flow path is defined between the rotor and the stator, and a secondary flow path is defined between the stator and the rotor. Preferably, a substantial majority of blood passes through the primary flow path. The secondary flow path is large enough so that it provides adequate flushing of the secondary flow path while being small enough to permit efficient operation of the radial magnet bearings across the secondary flow path.

Blood pump having a magnetically suspended rotor

A rotary pump for pumping fluids through a patient having a housing with an internal region, a stator member and an impeller positioned within the housing and having impeller blades, wherein the impeller is magnetically suspended and rotated, and wherein the geometric configuration of the rotary pump is sized and proportioned to minimize stagnant and traumatic fluid flow within the rotary pump. The plurality of magnetic impeller blades are preferably rare earth, high-energy-density magnets selected from the group consisting of samarium cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron alloy.

Magnetically suspended miniature fluid pump and method of designing the same

Magnetically suspended miniature fluid pump and method of designing the

The invention is a permanent magnet flux-biased magnetic actuator with flux feedback for adjustably suspending an element on a single axis. The magnetic actuator includes a pair of opposing electromagnets 11' and 12' providing bi-directional forces along the single axis to the suspended element. Permanent magnets in flux feedback loops from the opposing electromagnets establish a reference permanent magnet flux-bias to linearize the force characteristics of the electromagnets to extend the linear range of the actuator without the need for continuous bias currents in said electromagnets.

Permanent magnet flux-biased magnetic actuator with flux feedback

The invention, a single element magnetic suspension actuator with bidirectional force capability along a single axis, includes an electromagnet 11 and a nonmagnetic suspended element 12. A permanent magnet 13 mounted on the suspended element 12 interacts with a magnetic field established by the electromagnet 11 to produce bidirectional forces in response to a variable force command voltage V.sub.FC applied to the electromagnet 11. A sensor 14 measures the position of the suspended element 12 on the single axis which is a function of force command voltage V.sub.FC.

Single element magnetic suspension actuator

An annular momentum control device (AMCD) 11 is operated in a strapped down position on a spacecraft. The signals from the position sensors 18 and 19 at the several AMCD magnetic bearing stations a, b, and c are applied to computers (FIGS. 4 and 5) which compute the angular rate about first and second axes in the plane of the AMCD rim 12 and compute the linear accelerations along the first and second axes and along a third axis perpendicular to the first and second axes.

Rim inertial measuring system

Apparatus for providing accurate pointing of instruments on a carrier vehicle and for providing isolation of the instruments from the vehicle's motion disturbances. The apparatus includes two assemblies, with connecting interfaces, each assembly having a separate function. The first assembly is attached to the carrier vehicle and consists of an azimuth gimbal and an elevation gimbal which provide coarse pointing of the instruments by allowing two rotations of the instruments relative to the carrier vehicle. The second or vernier pointing assembly is made up of magnetic suspension and fine pointing actuators, roll motor segments, and an instrument mounting plate around which a continuous annular rim is attached which provides appropriate magnetic circuits for the actuators and the roll motor segments. The vernier pointing assembly is attached to the elevation gimbal and provides vernier attitude fine pointing and roll positioning of the instruments as well as six degree-of-freedom isolation from carrier motion disturbances.

Growing community of inventors

White Marsh, VA, United States of America

Nelson J Groom