An intravascular blood pump having a rotatable shaft carrying an impeller and a housing with an opening through which the shaft extends with the impeller positioned outside the housing. The shaft and the housing have surfaces forming a circumferential gap which converges towards the impeller-side end of the gap and which has a minimum gap width of preferably no more than 5 μm, more preferably no more than 2 μm.

An intravascular blood pump having a rotatable shaft carrying an impeller and a housing with an opening through which the shaft extends with the impeller positioned outside the housing. The shaft and the housing have surfaces forming a circumferential gap which converges towards the impeller-side end of the gap and which has a minimum gap width of preferably no more than 5 μm, more preferably no more than 2 μm.

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.

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.

A catheter pump is disclosed. The catheter pump can include an impeller and a catheter body having a lumen in which waste fluid flows proximally therethrough during operation of the catheter pump. The catheter pump can also include a drive shaft disposed inside the catheter body. A motor assembly can include a chamber. The motor assembly can include a rotor disposed in the at least a portion of the chamber, the rotor mechanically coupled with a proximal portion of the drive shaft such that rotation of the rotor causes the drive shaft to rotate, the rotor including a longitudinal rotor lumen therethrough. The motor assembly can also comprise a stator assembly disposed about the rotor. During operation of the catheter pump, the waste fluid flows from the lumen into the chamber such that at least a portion of the waste fluid flows proximally through the longitudinal rotor lumen.

A catheter pump is disclosed. The catheter pump can include an impeller and a catheter body having a lumen in which waste fluid flows proximally therethrough during operation of the catheter pump. The catheter pump can also include a drive shaft disposed inside the catheter body. A motor assembly can include a chamber. The motor assembly can include a rotor disposed in the at least a portion of the chamber, the rotor mechanically coupled with a proximal portion of the drive shaft such that rotation of the rotor causes the drive shaft to rotate, the rotor including a longitudinal rotor lumen therethrough. The motor assembly can also comprise a stator assembly disposed about the rotor. During operation of the catheter pump, the waste fluid flows from the lumen into the chamber such that at least a portion of the waste fluid flows proximally through the longitudinal rotor lumen.

A control device (100) for controlling the rotational speed (n.sub.VAD(t)) of a non-pulsatile ventricular assist device, VAD, (50) 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 (50) for assistance of a heart comprises the control device (100) for controlling the VAD, wherein the VAD is preferably a non-pulsatile rotational, for example catheter-based, blood pump.

A control device (100) for controlling the rotational speed (n.sub.VAD(t)) of a non-pulsatile ventricular assist device, VAD, (50) 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 (50) for assistance of a heart comprises the control device (100) for controlling the VAD, wherein the VAD is preferably a non-pulsatile rotational, for example catheter-based, blood pump.

Disclosed herein is an outflow graft assembly for an implantable blood pump. The outflow graft assembly includes a graft, a locking nut including a plurality of planar edges and a plurality of corners, and a U-shaped fixation clip. The U-shaped fixation clip includes a first flat segment including a first flexure including a first locking feature, a second flat segment including a second flexure including a second locking feature, an arcuate segment extending between the first flat segment and the second flat segment, and a lip including a first flat and a second flat. The U-shaped fixation clip is configured to engage the locking nut such that the first and second locking features contact associated corners of the plurality of corners and the first and second flats contact associated planar edges of the plurality of planar edges, thereby preventing rotation of the locking nut relative to the fixation clip.

In a rotor for a fluid pump which is made radially compressible and expandable and has a hub and at least one conveying element which has a plurality of struts and at least one membrane 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.