This document describes stepper motor drive systems. The stepper motor drive systems can be used in many different applications including, for example, to drive a stepper motor of an occluder device in association with a heart-lung machine.

Methods and for treatment of cancer and other diseases including complications from late stage viral infections by inducing hyperthermia in a patient relying on withdrawing blood from the patient and returning the withdrawn blood to the patient to establish an extracorporeal flow circuit. Blood is heated by passing through the extracorporeal circuit at a controlled rate until a target body core temperature in is achieved. Usually, the blood will be subjected to a continuously re-circulating dialysis to balance electrolytes. Additionally, the blood will be subjected to a continuously recirculating regeneration through a carbon sorbent column where toxins and contaminants are removed. The blood temperature is maintained at the target blood temperature for a treatment period, and the blood is cooled after the treatment period has been completed. The method can also be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, hepatitis, sepsis, the Epstein-Barr virus, and patients with life threatening complications from other viruses, including the COVID-19 virus. A method for removing viruses from the blood supply in an external circuit is also presented.

The disclosed arterial chambers for hemodialysis may include a cap with a blood inlet port for conveying an intended patient's blood into the arterial chamber, an auxiliary port configured to provide fluid access to the arterial chamber, and a needleless access port configured to couple to a needleless syringe. The needleless access port may be configured for administering a substance to an interior of the arterial chamber from the needleless syringe and/or for withdrawing blood from the interior of the arterial chamber into the needleless syringe. Various tubing sets, hemodialysis systems, and other components, systems, and methods are also disclosed.

The present invention generally relates to hemodialysis and similar dialysis systems, including a variety of systems and methods that would make hemodialysis more efficient, easier, and/or more affordable. One aspect of the invention is generally directed to new fluid circuits for fluid flow. In one set of embodiments, a hemodialysis system may include a blood flow path and a dialysate flow path, where the dialysate flow path includes one or more of a balancing circuit, a mixing circuit, and/or a directing circuit. Preparation of dialysate by the preparation circuit, in some instances, may be decoupled from patient dialysis. In some cases, the circuits are defined, at least partially, within one or more cassettes, optionally interconnected with conduits, pumps, or the like. In one embodiment, the fluid circuit and/or the various fluid flow paths may be at least partially isolated, spatially and/or thermally, from electrical components of the hemodialysis system. In some cases, a gas supply may be provided in fluid communication with the dialysate flow path and/or the dialyzer that, when activated, is able to urge dialysate to pass through the dialyzer and urge blood in the blood flow path back to the patient. Such a system may be useful, for example, in certain emergency situations (e.g., a power failure) where it is desirable to return as much blood to the patient as possible. The hemodialysis system may also include, in another aspect of the invention, one or more fluid handling devices, such as pumps, valves, mixers, or the like, which can be actuated using a control fluid, such as air. In some cases, the control fluid may be delivered to the fluid handling devices using an external pump or other device, which may be detachable in certain instances. In one embodiment, one or more of the fluid handling devices may be generally rigid (e.g., having a spheroid shape), optionally with a diaphragm contained within the device, dividing it into first and second compartments.

The invention relates to an arrangement having a blood pump and a gas exchanger for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. According to the invention, the blood pump is designed as a pulsatile blood pump and is arranged with the gas exchanger in the same housing. The pulsatile blood pump and the gas exchanger are preferably connected to the same gas source so that the blood pump can be pneumatically driven. The novel ECMO system has a simple design, is flexible, and in particular can be used directly on the patient.

The present invention relates to a sorbent manifold and related systems and methods having a plurality of passageways fluidly connectable to one or more valves and one or more sensors and components for use in a sorbent dialysis system. The sorbent manifold can control the one or more valves to direct fluid to either pass through a sorbent cartridge or bypass the sorbent cartridge based on measurements obtained from sensors.

To enhance diffusive mass transfer of small molecules and convective clearance of middle molecules, the present invention provides a cylindrical hemodialyzer which comprises a blood compartment having a packed bundle of hollow fibers in a doughnut configuration on a radial cross-section, and a motorized dialysate compartment comprising a dialysate inlet motor having an external stator and an internal rotor connected to an axial spiral flow converter slidably inserted in a center of the packed bundle of the hollow fibers. The cylindrical hemodialyzer is configured to recirculate dialysate across the packed bundle of the hollow fibers propelled by the dialysate inlet motor. A dialysate outlet motor of the motorized dialysate compartment having an external stator and an internal rotor is configured to drain the dialysate and to control ultrafiltration by said cylindrical hemodialyzer.

A dual lumen drainage cannula configured for use in a VA ECMO system includes a first drainage tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one aperture in at least one wall of the first drainage tube proximate to the distal end of the first drainage tube, and a second drainage tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and at least one aperture in at least one wall of the second drainage tube proximate to the distal end of the second drainage tube. The first drainage tube passes through the second drainage tube. The dual lumen drainage cannula also includes a sleeve positioned adjacent to an interior wall of the second drainage tube. The sleeve is formed of a flexible material so as to be expandable and collapsible within the second drainage tube.

The invention pertains to a medical device: an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) catheter which can be used during right heart and lung failure. It pertains to a dual lumen catheter with a single port of entry which when in place bypasses the right heart and lungs while completing the veno-arterial circuit.

To enhance diffusive mass transfer of solutes, the present hemodialyzer in a cylindrical configuration for hemodialysis comprises a blood compartment having a packed bundle of hollow fibers in a reversibly distensible doughnut configuration on a radial cross-section, and a dialysate compartment having an axial spiral flow converter slidably inserted in a center of the packed bundle of the hollow fibers and an outer circumferential space encircling an outer circumferential layer of the packed bundle of the hollow fibers. The axial spiral flow converter is configured to convert an axial dialysate flow to a centrifugal dialysate flow radially spreading from the center of the packed bundle of the hollow fibers to the outer circumferential space of the hemodialyzer.