Abiomed Europe Gmbh

Walid Aboulhosn

Thorsten Siess

Christoph Nix

Gerd Spanier

Katrin Lunze

Frank Kirchhoff

Wolfgang Kerkhoffs

Ellen Keysselitz

Peter Skrodsky

Ger O'Carrol

Adrian Moran

Thorsten Sieß

An intravascular blood pump may have a catheter () and a pumping device () attached to the catheter (). The catheter () extends along a longitudinal axis and has a distal end () and a proximal end () opposite the distal end (). The catheter () may have a tubular stiffening structure () extending longitudinally between the proximal end () and the distal end () of the catheter (). The tubular stiffening structure () has a lumen () and a proximal end () and a closed distal end () opposite the proximal end (), wherein the lumen () of the stiffening structure () is configured to receive a pressurized fluid having an over-pressure of at least 5 bar.

Blood pump with reinforced catheter

A control device () for controlling the rotational speed (n(t)) of a non-pulsatile ventricular assist device, VAD, () uses an event-based within-a-beat control strategy, wherein the control device is configured to alter the rotational speed of the VAD within the cardiac cycle of the assisted heart and to synchronize the alteration of the rotational speed with the heartbeat by at least one sequence of trigger signals (σ(t)) that is related to at least one predetermined characteristic event in the cardiac cycle. Further, a VAD () for assistance of a heart comprises the control device () for controlling the VAD, wherein the VAD is preferably a non-pulsatile rotational, for example catheter-based, blood pump.

Ventricular assist device

An intravascular blood pump () comprises a ring seal () that is configured to assume a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration and configured to contact and seal against an inner wall of the patient's blood vessel when inserted therein in the expanded configuration. A support member () is disposed inside the ring seal () in order to support the ring seal () from the inside, wherein the support member () is configured to collapse at least partially when a predetermined pressure difference between a proximal area and a distal area of the blood vessel acting on the ring seal () is exceeded.

Intravascular blood pump with balloon

A 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. The impeller has blades sized and shaped for conveying blood from the blood flow inlet to the blood flow outlet. The blood pump also has an outflow cannula having an upstream end portion, a downstream end portion and an intermediate portion extending between the upstream end portion and the downstream end portion. The upstream end portion of the outflow cannula is connected to the pump casing such that blood is conveyed from the blood flow outlet of the pump casing into and through the intermediate portion of the outflow cannula towards the downstream end portion of the outflow cannula, wherein the downstream end portion has a blood flow outlet through which blood can exit the outflow cannula. At least a portion of the intermediate portion of the outflow cannula has an outer diameter that is larger than an outer diameter of the pump casing.

Blood 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

A blood pump comprises a pump casing having a blood flow inlet and a blood flow outlet, and an impeller arranged in said pump casing and rotatably supported in the pump casing by a bearing so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation. The impeller has blades for conveying blood from the blood flow inlet to the blood flow outlet. The bearing comprises at least one stationary bearing portion coupled to the pump casing and having a stationary bearing surface that faces radially outwards. The bearing further comprises a rotating bearing surface interacting with the stationary bearing surface to form the bearing, wherein the rotating bearing surface faces radially inwards and is formed on an exposed radially inner edge of the blades. The blades are designed to draw blood deposit on the stationary bearing surface in a radially outward direction.

An introducer sheath for providing access in a patient's body comprises a tubular body with a distal portion and a proximal portion, the proximal portion being configured to be inserted into the patient's body to allow a medical device to be inserted through the introducer sheath into the patient's body. In order for the introducer sheath to be removable from the patient, it can be separated along its length in a longitudinal direction. The introducer sheath further comprises at least a first handle which is pivotable about a fulcrum. The first handle has a first end portion and a free second end portion so as to form a lever, such that pivoting the handle about the fulcrum causes a contacting portion of the handle to act on a respective counter portion that is operatively connected to the distal portion of the tubular body. This creates a breaking force that causes the distal portion of the tubular body to break.

Introducer sheath

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.

The invention concerns a control device for controlling a blood flow of an intravascular blood pump for percutaneous insertion into a patient's blood vessel, the blood pump comprising a pump unit with a drive unit for driving the pump unit and configured to convey blood from a blood flow inlet towards a blood flow outlet, wherein the control device is configured to operate the blood pump in a selectable zero-flow control mode, wherein a blood flow command signal is selected, and the control device comprises a first controller and a second controller, wherein the first controller is configured to control the blood flow by adjusting a speed command signal for the drive unit, and the second controller is configured to control a drive speed of the drive unit.

An introducer set () for providing vascular access in a patient's body comprises an Introducer sheath () and a dilator (). The introducer sheath () has a tubular body () made of flexible material with a distal portion (), a proximal portion () and an inner surface, the proximal portion () being configured to be inserted into a patient's vessel to allow a medical device () to be inserted through the introducer sheath () into the patient's vessel. The tubular body () of the introducer sheath has a wall thickness (d) of 0.3 mm or less. The dilator () has a body () with a proximal portion (), a distal portion () and an outer surface, the dilator () being insertable into the introducer sheath () such that its proximal portion () extends proximally of the introducer sheath () when the dilator () is inserted in the introducer sheath (). At least one of the dilator () and the introducer sheath () comprises a stiffening structure () imparting stiffness to the tubular body () of the introducer sheath (), wherein said stiffening structure () can be released, removed or otherwise deactivated.

Introducer set

A control device for a ventricular assist device (VAD) with settable speed levels. The control device includes an input configured to receive at least one measuring signal related to a physiological condition of the circulatory system of a patient receiving heart assistance by the VAD, where the control device is configured to derive an actual value of at least one characteristic parameter of the heart from one or more of the at least one measuring signal and to provide a refined actual value of the at least one characteristic parameter in which effects of physiologically caused fluctuations are eliminated or reduced. The control device further includes an output configured to output an updated setting value for the speed level, where the control device is configured to produce the updated setting value based on the refined actual value and a predeterminable set-point value.

Growing community of inventors

Aachen, Germany

Walid Aboulhosn