A device for pumping blood, includes a housing having a distal end adapted to be coupled to a catheter, a proximal end having an outlet, and a tubular body extending between the distal and proximal ends along an axis. A rotor is rotatably disposed within the housing. A first magnetic bearing is operative to levitate the rotor along the axis within the housing. A second magnetic bearing controls a rotational frequency of the rotor. A third magnetic bearing controls a radial position of the rotor.

Various contactless bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. In one embodiment, a pump apparatus includes a pump housing defining a pumping chamber. The housing has a spindle extending into the pumping chamber. A spindle magnet assembly includes first and second magnets disposed within the spindle. The first and second magnets are arranged proximate each other with their respective magnetic vectors opposing each other. The lack of mechanical contact bearings enables longer life pump operation and less damage to working fluids such as blood.

The invention relates to a mechanical bearing containing a first component and a further component, wherein the mechanical bearing is designed such that the first component and the further component are able to execute a bearing movement relative to each other, wherein the first component or the further component contains a cermet or both contain a cermet. The invention further relates to an implantable medical device containing the mechanical bearing, in particular to a blood pump, and also to a use of a cermet for producing a mechanical bearing, and to a use of the mechanical bearing for supporting a component of an implantable medical device.

Various contactless bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. In one embodiment, a pump apparatus includes a pump housing defining a pumping chamber. The housing has a spindle extending into the pumping chanber. A spindle magnet assembly includes first and second magnets disposed within the spindle. The first and second magnets are arranged proximate each other with their respective magnetic vectors opposing each other. The lack of mechanical contact bearings enables longer life pump operation and less damage to working fluids such as blood.

There is provided a blood pump. An exemplary blood pump comprises an impeller with a rotational axis in a pump housing. The exemplary blood pump also comprises a first element that comprises a Lomakin bearing, and a second element physically separated from the first element, the second element comprising a radial magnetic bearing.

Various contactless bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic, hydrostatic, and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. These design features may be combined. In one embodiment, the pump apparatus includes a rotor having a bore, a ring-shaped upper rotor bearing magnet, and a ring-shaped lower rotor bearing magnet. The bearing magnets are concentric with the bore. The lack of mechanical contact bearings enables longer life pump operation and less damage to working fluids such as blood.

A centrifugal blood pump for circulating blood is provided, wherein an impeller makes no contact at all with a housing and a rotating shaft and moves in a rotating manner with the impeller in a stably levitating state. Also provided is a blood pump in which the impeller rotates at high speed even when the blood pump is reduced in scale. The blood pump contains a magnet of enhanced magnetic force at the inside of a housing and at an outer peripheral surface of an impeller and providing a fixed-interval spacing on the periphery of a bearing section makes it possible to ensure a state where no contact at all is made between the housing, a shaft, and the impeller, and makes it possible to cause the impeller to rotate stably over a long period of time.

Various contactless bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. In one embodiment, a pump apparatus includes a pump housing defining a pumping chamber. The housing has a spindle extending into the pumping chamber. A spindle magnet assembly includes first and second magnets disposed within the spindle. The first and second magnets are arranged proximate each other with their respective magnetic vectors opposing each other. The lack of mechanical contact bearings enables longer life pump operation and less damage to working fluids such as blood.

Various contactless bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic, hydrostatic, and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. These design features may be combined. In one embodiment, the pump apparatus includes a rotor having a bore, a ring-shaped upper rotor bearing magnet, and a ring-shaped lower rotor bearing magnet. The bearing magnets are concentric with the bore. The lack of mechanical contact bearings enables longer life pump operation and less damage to working fluids such as blood.

A blood pump includes an impeller; a drive shaft coupled to the impeller and configured to rotate with the impeller; a motor configured to drive the impeller; and a bearing assembly disposed adjacent the motor and configured to receive an end of the drive shaft. The bearing assembly includes a bearing, where the end of the drive shaft is at least partially rounded, and the where the bearing includes a concave depression defined in a first side of the bearing, where the depression is configured to receive the end of the drive shaft. The bearing assembly may include a lubricant chamber configured to hold a lubricant.