Blood pump devices having improved rotary seals for sealing a bearing assembly supporting a rotor provided herein. Such rotary seals are particularly suited for use in blood pump devices that include rotors having cantilevered supported through a sealed mechanical bearing disposed outside a blood flow path of the device to avoid thrombus formation caused by blood contact with the bearing. The rotary seal can include a first and second face seal that are preloaded with a deflectable compliance member incorporated into the pump housing or a pair of magnets. Such rotary seals can instead or further utilize tight fitment between components or a bio-absorbable fill material to seal an interface between the rotor shaft and pump housing to seal the bearing assembly from fluid flowing through the pump.

A ventricular assist device includes a housing assembly with a pressurized inner chamber, an impeller, an electric motor and a distance sensor. The electric motor includes a controller, a stator and a rotor. The stator and the controller are located in the housing assembly, outside of the pressurized inner chamber and are electrically coupled. The impeller and the rotor are located in the pressurized inner chamber and fixedly coupled. The distance sensor is located in the housing assembly, outside of the pressurized inner chamber and electrically coupled to the controller. The distance sensor senses a distance value of the rotor to a cavity wall of the pressurized inner chamber, and further transmits the distance value to the controller. The controller controls a magnetic force between the stator and the rotor according to the distance value, so as to control a suspension and rotation of the rotor.

An impeller for a pump is disclosed herein. The impeller can include a hub having a fixed end and a free end. The impeller can also have a plurality of blades supported by the hub. Each blade can have a fixed end coupled to the hub and a free end. The impeller can have a stored configuration and a deployed configuration, the blades in the deployed configuration extending away from the hub, and the blades in the stored configuration being compressed against the hub.

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.

Blood pump devices having improved rotary seals for sealing a bearing assembly supporting a rotor provided herein. Such rotary seals are particularly suited for use in blood pump devices that include rotors having cantilevered supported through a sealed mechanical bearing disposed outside a blood flow path of the device to avoid thrombus formation caused by blood contact with the bearing. The rotary seal can include a first and second face seal that are preloaded with a deflectable compliance member incorporated into the pump housing or a pair of magnets. Such rotary seals can instead or further utilize tight fitment between components or a bio-absorbable fill material to seal an interface between the rotor shaft and pump housing to seal the bearing assembly from fluid flowing through the pump.

The disclosure relates to devices and methods for the treatment of edema using a purge-free system. The invention provides devices and methods useful for treating edema by means of an indwelling catheter that is placed in a blood vessel of a patient and used to pump blood to cause a decrease in pressure at an outlet of a lymphatic duct. The catheter pumps blood by means of an impeller but is purge-free in that the catheter does not include a system for purging or flushing catheter components with a purge fluid. The purge-free catheter avoids blood-related mechanical complications such as clotting or thrombosis by means of an impermeable sleeve or shroud that protects moving parts of the impeller drive system.

A pump for immersion in a fluid includesan inductor having guide vanes to induce linear fluid flow; a rotor with a central, flared body, this rotor being downstream of the inductor relative to the direction of fluid circulation; a helical blade provided around the central body; this helical blade having a flared external profile and having turns with an increasing winding pitch, and the internal casing volume being complementary to the flared helical blade, a casing around the rotor; a diffuser having blades making the flow of fluid linear and disposed downstream of the rotor to evacuate the fluid from the rotor; anda diffuser insert having blades and an outlet orifice with a diameter less than the inlet diameter of the diffuser insert, the blades directing the fluid from the diffuser towards the orifice to increase the orifice outlet pressure.

A micro pumping mechanism is proposed to generate flow in micro channels of micro fluidic devices and three dimensional microprocessors cooled by the flow of coolant fluids. The proposed micro pump comprises a rotating disk inside a chamber, which overlaps with the fluidic micro channel. The rotating disk induces a shear flow across the micro channel, transporting fluid elements in the direction of the rotation of the disk. The disk can be rotated by external magnetic or electric fields as in direct drive, induction, or electrostatic motors.

Disclosed is a magnetic coupling for transmitting torque along an axis of rotation, comprising two coupling parts which can be rotated relative to each other, wherein a drive-side coupling part has a drive-side permanent magnet and wherein an output-side coupling part has an output-side permanent magnet that lies opposite and at a distance from the drive-side permanent magnet along the axis of rotation. One of the coupling parts comprises a diverting element which is at least partially ferromagnetic and is non-rotatably connected to the permanent magnet of said coupling part and one part of the diverting element is disposed radially outside the opposite permanent magnet.

Blood pump devices having one or more sensors for monitoring performance of a bearing assembly and/or a fluid-tight seal are provided herein. Such devices are particularly useful in blood pump devices that have cantilevered rotors supported by a sealed mechanical bearing disposed outside a blood flow path of the device to avoid thrombus formation caused by blood contact with the bearing. The one or more sensors can include one or more accelerometers adapted to detect movement of the bearing assembly along one or more axes during operation of the pump. A vibration profile can be determined from the movement data from the one or more sensors that is indicative of performance of the bearing assembly and/or seal so as to allow monitoring over time.