A catheter system for a catheter pump is disclosed. The system can include an elongate catheter body having a distal portion including an expandable cannula having an inlet and an outlet. The expandable cannula can have a delivery profile and an operational profile larger than the delivery profile. An impeller assembly can include an impeller shaft and an impeller body. A sheath can have a cannula retention zone disposed over the expandable cannula and a separation zone. The cannula retention zone can have a first configuration adapted to retain the expandable cannula in the delivery profile. The system can be adapted to separate the separation zone into a first portion and a second portion disposed across a gap. The gap can enable the elongate catheter body to pass between the first and second portion so that the sheath can be removed from the elongate catheter body.

Sensors for catheter pumps are disclosed herein. The catheter pump can include a catheter assembly comprising a catheter and a cannula coupled to a distal portion of the catheter. The cannula can have a proximal port for permitting the flow of blood therethrough. The catheter assembly can include a sensor to be disposed near the proximal port. A processing unit can be programmed to process a signal detected by the sensor. The processing unit can comprise a computer-readable set of rules to evaluate the signal to determine a position of the cannula relative to an aortic valve of a patient.

A blood pump, such as an axial flow pump, having a pump housing, the pump housing defining a flow path and having a tapered portion adjacent to an outlet, tapering toward the outlet, an outflow cannula connected to the outlet of the pump housing, and an impeller and diffuser, disposed in the pump housing, the diffuser having a tapered body corresponding to the tapered portion of the pump housing, the diffuser body having at least one vane extending therefrom, the vein tapering in the same direction as the diffuser body. The present invention also includes a method of manufacturing the blood pump and a method of implanting the blood pump.

A ventricular assist device for use in a human recipient includes a housing within which a series pair of turbine pump segments are operative. The series pair of turbine pump segments provides a redundancy in turn enhances the safety factor provided by the ventricular assist device. A controller is powered by a rechargeable battery and is operative to apply appropriate drive signals to the motor drives of the turbine pump segments. The battery may be implanted along with the controller to avoid the need for any external connections to the ventricular assist device. An inductively coupled batter charger for use outside the recipient's body is positioned proximate the battery charger to provide inductively coupled charging for use in driving the ventricular assist device.

An artificial heart for use in a human recipient includes a housing within which a quartet of turbine pump segments are operative. The quartet of turbine pump segments is configured to provide a pair of redundant input and output turbine pump segment pairs each input and output pair being coupled by a curved passage providing a redundancy which, in turn, enhances the safety factor provided by the artificial heart. A controller is powered by a rechargeable battery and is operative to apply appropriate drive signals to the motor drives of the turbine pump segments. The battery may be implanted along with the controller to avoid the need for any external connections to the artificial heart. An inductively coupled battery charger for use outside the recipient's body is positioned proximate the battery charger to provide inductively coupled charging for use in driving the artificial heart.

A catheter pump is disclosed herein. The catheter pump can include an elongate catheter body and an impeller assembly coupled to a distal portion of the elongate catheter body. The impeller assembly can comprise an impeller configured to rotate during operation of the catheter pump. A tube can extend through at least portions of the elongate catheter body and the impeller assembly. The tube can extend distal the impeller and can be configured to remain in the portions of the elongate catheter body and the impeller assembly during operation of the catheter pump.

A blood pump (1) comprises a pump casing (2) having a blood flow inlet (5) and a blood flow outlet (6) connected by a passage (7), and an impeller (3) arranged in said pump casing (2) so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation (9). The impeller (2) is provided with blades (4) sized and shaped for conveying blood along the passage (7) from the blood flow inlet (5) to the blood flow outlet (6), the impeller (3) being rotatably supported in the pump casing (2) by at least one bearing (10, 20). A surface of the impeller (3) faces a surface of the pump casing (2) spaced from said surface of the impeller (3) by a clearance (31), the clearance (31) being in fluid connection with the passage (7) at a clearance transition point (36). In order to wash out the clearance, at least one wash out channel (30) extends through the impeller (3) and is in fluid connection with the passage (7) via a first opening (34) and with the clearance (31) via a second opening (35). The first opening (34) of the wash out channel (30) is arranged in an area of the impeller (3) thatduring operation of the blood pump (1)is under a higher pressure than the clearance transition point (36) so as to cause a blood flow from the first opening (34) through the wash out channel (30) and the clearance (31) to the clearance transition point (36).

A blood pump (1) comprises a pump casing (2) having a blood flow inlet (5) and a blood flow outlet (6) connected by a passage (7), and an impeller (3) arranged in said pump casing (2) so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation (9). The impeller (3) is provided with blades (4) sized and shaped for conveying blood along the passage (7) from the blood flow inlet (5) to the blood flow outlet (6), and is rotatably supported in the pump casing (2) by a first bearing (10) at a first axial end of the impeller (3) and a second bearing (20) axially spaced apart from the first bearing (10). The first bearing (10) comprises a projection (11) extending along the axis of rotation (9) and connected to one of the impeller (3) and the pump casing (2) and a cavity (13) in the other one of the impeller (3) and the pump casing (2), the projection (11) comprising an enlarged portion (12) that engages the cavity (13) such that the first bearing (10) and the second bearing (20) are arranged to bear axial forces in the same axial direction.

The subject matter of the present invention is a pump arrangement (1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50), in particular for use in the body's own vessels, having a pump (11, 41, 51) and a sheath (12, 42, 52) receiving the pump, bounding a flow passage (S) and having a distal intake opening (13, 43, 53) and proximal outflow opening (14, 29, 39, 44, 54) for producing a driving flow by means of the pump, wherein the pump is arranged in a first fluid-tight section (12a, 42a, 52a) having the distal intake opening and a second fluid-tight section (12b, 42b, 52b) includes the proximal outflow opening. In accordance with the invention, a further inlet opening (15) is present between the first section and the second section and is arranged between the intake opening and the outflow opening, with the first section and the second section being arranged with respect to one another such that the inlet opening opens into the flow proximal to the pump.

Sensors for catheter pumps are disclosed herein. The catheter pump can include a catheter assembly comprising a catheter and a cannula coupled to a distal portion of the catheter. The cannula can have a proximal port for permitting the flow of blood therethrough. The catheter assembly can include a sensor to be disposed near the proximal port. A processing unit can be programmed to process a signal detected by the sensor. The processing unit can comprise a computer-readable set of rules to evaluate the signal to determine a position of the cannula relative to an aortic valve of a patient.