A blood pump has a hollow body in which an impeller with a spiral blading produces an axial propulsion of blood along the impeller, as well as an at least partly actively stabilized magnetic bearing device and a hydrodynamic bearing device for the impeller. The impeller may be set into a rotation about a rotation axis of the impeller with a motor stator located outside the hollow body. The hollow body has an inlet for the flow of blood into the hollow body in an inflow direction which is essentially parallel to the rotation axis, and an outlet for the outflow of the blood out of the hollow body in an outflow direction which is offset to the rotation axis of the impeller to produce a non-zero outflow angle (α) between the inflow direction and the outflow direction. A total artificial heart can be formed from two such blood pumps.

The heart pump includes: a rotary impeller inserted in the systemic ventricle, the rotary impeller being provided with: a sealing membrane sutured onto the outer wall of the heart so as to secure the rotary impeller to the wall of the heart; a casing arranged inside the systemic ventricle such as to be able to suction and then discharge the blood; a preferably brushless motor connected to the casing and arranged inside the systemic ventricle and/or in the body of the ventricle, so as to facilitate maintenance; a managing unit installed in the epigastric region and including a preferably rechargeable power source and a unit for controlling the rotary impeller; a wired link between the managing unit and the rotary impeller; and a system for transmitting haemodynamic and rhythmic data measured by the heat pump via telemedicine.

A system and a method for starting a rotor of an implantable blood pump are described. For example, a blood pump system includes a rotary motor having a stator and a rotor. The rotor has permanent magnetic poles for magnetic levitation of the rotor, and the stator has a plurality of pole pieces arranged circumferentially at intervals. The blood pump system includes a controller configured to control a start phase of the rotor, wherein the start phase is prior to the rotor being positioned in a predefined geometric volume for pumping blood and wherein the start phase includes performing a rotation of the rotor by an angle larger than an angle corresponding to a quarter of an angular distance between two neighboring magnetic poles of the rotor.

A method of managing a speed of implantable blood pump. The implantable blood pump is in communication with an internal battery and a transcutaneous energy transfer system (TETS). The method includes starting the pump at a programmed set speed. The speed of the pump is decreased from the programmed set speed to a minimum set speed if either a capacity of the internal battery is less than a predetermined reserve level and TETS power is unavailable, or there is insufficient TETS power to maintain the programmed set speed. The speed of the pump is progressively decreased from the programmed set speed if there is insufficient power to maintain the programmed set speed.

A ventricular assist device includes a stent for placement within a cardiac artery and arranged for placement, the stent arranged to have an open configuration defining a flow path, a rotor sized to fit within the stent and arranged for percutaneous placement the flow path, the rotor including a surface disposed about a central portion and angled with respect to the flow path and having a first plurality of magnets. A collar is sized for placement about the cardiac artery and includes a stator. A power source is coupled to the stator, and the stator and the rotor are arranged to rotate the rotor about an axis. A timing control module controls a rotational speed of the rotor. Accordingly, the surface of the rotor is arranged to move blood along the flow path in response to rotation of the rotor.

A medical device includes an artificial contractile structure which may be advantageously used to assist the functioning of a hollow organ, an artificial contractile structure including at least one contractile element (100) adapted to contract an organ, in such way that the contractile element (100) is in a resting or in an activated position, at least one actuator designed to activate the contractile structure, and at least one source of energy for powering the actuator. The ratio “current which is needed to maintain the contractile element in its activated position and in its resting position/current which is needed to change the position of the contractile element” is less than 1/500, preferably less than 1/800, and more preferably less than 1/1000. The medical device further includes elements for reducing corrosion of the medical device.

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.

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 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 for assisting the operation of a natural heart is provided. A supporting jacket shaped to surround at least a portion of a heart has an expandable membrane attached to the inside wall of the jacket so that the membrane faces the heart. An inflatable cavity is formed between the jacket and the membrane. The cavity is connected to an expandable fluid reservoir via a length of flexible tubing. Pumps are used to pump fluid back and forth between the cavity and the reservoir. The cavity if inflated as the heart contract to aid the heart in pumping blood. The cavity is deflated as the heart relaxes to allow the heart to refill with blood. The cycle of pumping fluid is synchronized with the cardiac cycle.