Apparatus and methods are described including a blood pump that includes an axial shaft, an impeller disposed on the axial shaft, a frame disposed around the impeller, and a motor disposed outside a subject's body, and configured to drive the impeller to pump blood from a distal end of the impeller to a proximal end of the impeller. A drive cable extends from outside the subject's body to the axial shaft, and is configured to impart rotational motion from the motor to the impeller by rotating. The drive cable is held in a preloaded state with respect to the frame, such that initiation of pumping of blood by rotation of the impeller does not cause the drive cable to axially elongate. Other applications are also described.

In a pump housing having an interior for accommodating a pump rotor, which may be transferred from a radially compressed state into a radially expanded state, and comprises a housing skin revolving in circumferential direction, as well as at least one reinforcement element, a stretch-resistant element revolving in circumferential direction is provided, which is stretched less than 5% in the expanded state as opposed to the force-free state in circumferential direction, and which limits any further expansion of the pump housing in radial direction.

An impeller includes a hub, and a plurality of blades supported by the hub, the blades being arranged in at least two blade rows. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blades extend away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which at least one of the blades is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may also have an operational configuration in which at least some of the blades are deformed from the deployed configuration upon rotation of the impeller when in the deployed configuration. The outer edge of one or more blades may have a winglet, and the base of the blades may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blades.

In a rotor for a fluid pump which is made radially compressible and expandable and has a hub (4) and at least one conveying element (10, 11, 19, 20) which has a plurality of struts (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 27, 28) and at least one membrane (18) which can be spanned between them, provision is made for a design in accordance with the invention which is as simple and inexpensive as possible that at least one first group of struts is pivotable in a pivot plane, starting from a common base, and can thus be spanned open in the manner of a fan, wherein the conveying element lies along the hub and contacts it over its full length in the expanded state to avoid a pressure loss at the margin of the conveying element between it and the hub and thus to realize an optimum efficiency.

The invention relates to a compressible and expandable blade for the rotor of a fluid pump having at least two lamellae which are disposed adjacently, are pivotable respectively relative to an axis of rotation of the rotor and moveable relative to each other, and abut against each other in the expanded state of the blade such that they form together a continuous blade surface.

A variable impeller for a pump is proposed. The variable impeller includes a hub to which a shaft is mounted, a plurality of vanes radially arranged around the hub outward from the hub, and extension wings tightly locked to the plurality of vanes and extending length of each of the vanes. The length of the vane is adjusted in response to the pumping head that is changed by a flow rate of fluid, the pump is operated within a high efficiency section, an expensive impeller rotation speed control device is not required, and energy is reduced by reducing power consumption of the pump. In addition, during the work of changing the pumping head, the replacement of the extension wings may be quickly completed while only a part of a pump housing is opened to expose only the impeller without separating the entire assembly of the impeller from the pump.

The catheter device comprises a drive shaft connected to a motor, and a rotor mounted on the drive shaft at the distal end section. The rotor has a frame structure which is formed by a screw-like boundary frame and rotor struts extending radially inwards from the boundary frame. The rotor struts are fastened to the drive shaft by their ends opposite the boundary frame. Between the boundary frame and the drive shaft extends an elastic covering. The frame structure is made of an elastic material such that, after forced compression, the rotor unfolds automatically.

In a pump housing having an interior for accommodating a pump rotor, which may be transferred from a radially compressed state into a radially expanded state, and comprises a housing skin revolving in circumferential direction, as well as at least one reinforcement element, a stretch-resistant element revolving in circumferential direction is provided, which is stretched less than 5% in the expanded state as opposed to the force-free state in circumferential direction, and which limits any further expansion of the pump housing in radial direction.

Apparatus and methods are described including placing, into a subject's body, a blood-pump tube, with an impeller disposed within the blood-pump tube. At least one blood-pressure-measurement element extends to at least an outer surface of the blood-pump tube, such that the distal end of the blood-pressure-measurement element is in direct fluid communication with a bloodstream of the subject outside the blood-pump tube at a location that is proximal to blood-inlet opening(s) defined by the blood-pump tube. Blood is pumped through the blood-pump tube, using the impeller. Pressure of the bloodstream of the subject outside the blood-pump tube is measured by measuring blood pressure at the distal end of the left-ventricular blood-pressure-measurement element. Other applications are also described.

Apparatus and methods are described including a blood pump that is placed inside a body of subject. The blood pump includes an impeller that includes proximal and distal bushings, and that defines an axial lumen that extends from the proximal bushing to the distal bushing, a frame disposed around the impeller, and an axial shaft that passes through the proximal and distal bushings of the impeller. A distal end of a delivery catheter, and the frame and the impeller, are configured to be moved with respect to one another, to thereby cause the frame to assume a radially-constrained configuration by the frame becoming axially elongated, and cause the impeller to assume a radially-constrained configuration by the impeller becoming axially elongated. Other applications are also described.