There is provided a method for controlling a flow of fluid and/or other bodily matter in a lumen formed by a tissue wall of a patient's organ. The method comprises gently constricting (i.e., without substantially hampering the blood circulation in the tissue wall) at least one portion of the tissue wall to influence the flow in the lumen, and stimulating the constricted wall portion to cause contraction of the wall portion to further influence the flow in the lumen. The method can be used for restricting or stopping the flow in the lumen, or for actively moving the fluid in the lumen, with a low risk of injuring the organ. Such an organ may be the esophagus, stomach, intestines, urine bladder, urethra, ureter, renal pelvis, aorta, corpus cavernosum, exit veins of erectile tissue, uterine tube, vas deferens or bile duct, or a blood vessel.

A artificial ventricle comprises an inlet for receiving blood, an outlet for discharging blood, and a chamber disposed between the inlet and the outlet. There is also a mechanism for actuating the artificial ventricle between an expanded configuration and a contracted configuration. In the expanded configuration, blood flows into the inlet. In the contracted configuration, blood flows out of the outlet. There may be a one-way valve at the outlet for preventing blood flow back into the chamber. The one-way valve may be a diaphragm valve. The chamber may have a resilient outer wall. The chamber may have an ovoid shape.

An assembly for an extracorporeal life support system with a suction line that features a venous cannula and a pressure line that features an arterial cannula furthermore includes a pump that is arranged between the suction line and the pressure line. This assembly has a discharge line with a discharge cannula, wherein the discharge cannula is longer than the arterial cannula, and wherein the discharge line is connected to the suction line or the pressure line.

A method may be provided for the operation of a pump device, which comprises at least one pump as well as a suction element which is connected to the at least one pump and which has a suction opening positioned in a cavity of a body of a patient that sucks a fluid by way of producing a reduced pressure in the suction element, wherein an acceleration is measured and monitored during the operation of the pump device, wherein the reduced pressure in the suction element is reduced at least for a limited reaction time period, given the occurrence of an acceleration variable which lies above a fixed threshold valve. A correspondingly configured pump device may be provided.

A motor drive controlling apparatus includes a controller that generates a drive control signal in response to input of a speed command signal and a motor driver that generates a drive signal in response to input of the drive control signal and outputs the drive signal to a motor, and the controller repeatedly generates the drive control signal in a period during which the speed command signal is inputted and stops generating the drive control signal in a period during which the speed command signal is not inputted to repeat an operation period in which the motor performs rotational operation and a stop period in which the motor stops operating in a non-excited state.

A device, a kit and a method is presented for permanently augmenting the pump function of the left heart. The mitral valve plane is assisted in a movement along the left ventricular long axis during each heart cycle. The very close relationship between the coronary sinus and the mitral valve is used by various embodiments of a medical device providing this assisted movement. By means of catheter technique an implant is inserted into the coronary sinus, the device is augmenting the up and down movement of the mitral valve and thereby increasing the left ventricular diastolic filling when moving upwards and the piston effect of the closed mitral valve when moving downwards.

In one general aspect, a method includes measuring blood flow through a right rotary blood pump, measuring blood flow through a left rotary blood pump, and controlling a speed of one of the rotary blood pumps using a controller that calculates the speed of one of the rotary blood pumps based on the measured blood flow through the other rotary blood pump.

A model of flow through a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can be used for preoperative planning of implantation of the LVAD into a patient and/or optimization of the LVAD after implantation into the patient are described. At least one imaging data set related to a patient and at least one physiological data set related to the patient can be received. An ideal parameter related to the LVAD can be determined based on the at least one imaging data set related to the patient, the at least one physiological data set related to the patient using a model of circulation in a large spatial region of the patient's body and a three-dimensional anatomical model of at least one component of the region of the patient's body and at least one component of the LVAD. Flow patterns within the three-dimensional anatomical model are calculated using computational fluid dynamics.

Ventricular assist devices configured to be placed in a ventricle of a heart are described. In one embodiment, a ventricular assist device may include a pumping pouch. The pumping pouch may have an opening. The pumping pouch may be flexible, and may define an internal volume configured to fill with blood in through the opening. The ventricular assist device may also include a contraction element coupled to the contraction pouch. The contraction element may be capable of squeezing at least a portion of the pumping pouch to force at least a portion of the blood out through the opening. The ventricular assist device may also include a frame coupled to the pumping pouch. The frame may be configured to be coupled to a wall of the heart.

Described are systems and methods for administration of nitric oxide (NO) with use of left ventricular assists devices (LVADs), as well as systems and methods for monitoring the NO delivery devices and/or the LVAD.