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 device for circulatory support of the heart with holding means implanted intracardially in the left or right ventricular outflow of the hea by catheter, using an endovascular method, through a femoral access or a percutaneous transventricular, transseptal, transapical or transvenous access, the holding means comprises anchoring means fixed in the subcommissural triangle underneath the aortic valve and the pulmonary valve, in the flow direction of the blood on the ventricular side of the aortic valve and the pulmonary valve, a pump fixed in the holding means by a catheter, using an endovascular method, through a femoral access or a percutaneous transventricular, transseptal, trrulsapical or transvenous access, the pump crulbe inserted releasably into the holding means after the holding means has been fixed by the anchoring means in the subcommissural triangles underneath the aortic valve and the pulmonary valve, or is connected to the collapsible and expandable anchoring means.

A device, a kit and a method are presented for permanently augmenting the pump function of the left heart. The basis for the presented innovation is an augmentation of the physiologically up and down movement of the mitral valve during each heart cycle. By means of catheter technique, minimal surgery, or open-heart surgery implants are inserted into the left ventricle, the mitral valve annulus, the left atrium and adjacent tissue in order to augment the natural up and down movement of the mitral valve and thereby increasing the left ventricular diastolic filling and the piston effect of the closed mitral valve when moving towards the apex of said heart in systole and/or away from said apex in diastole.

Apparatus and methods are described, including apparatus (20) for implanting in a heart of a human subject. The apparatus includes an interatrial anchor (22) shaped to define an opening (26) having a diameter of 4-8 mm, and a bag (24) in fluid communication with the opening of the anchor. The apparatus is shaped to fit within a right atrium of the heart of the subject, and has a capacity of between 4 and 20 cm3. Other applications are also described.

Various systems and methods are provided for reducing pressure at an outflow of a duct such as the thoracic duct or the lymphatic duct. A catheter system can include a catheter shaft configured to be at least partially implantable within a patient's vein, a flexible membrane attached to the catheter shaft, the flexible membrane being a collapsible, tube-like member having a lumen extending therethrough, and a single selectively deployable restriction member formed over a portion of the flexible membrane at substantially a midpoint between a proximal end of the flexible membrane and a distal end of the flexible membrane, the restriction member being configured to control a size of the lumen so as to direct a controlled volume of fluid from an upstream side of the restriction member to a downstream side the restriction member.

Apparatus and methods are described including placing an impeller of a ventricular assist device inside a left ventricle of a subject, with a frame disposed around the impeller. The impeller is driven to pump blood from the left ventricle to an aorta of the subject, by rotating the impeller. The impeller is placed inside the left ventricle such that the impeller is allowed to undergo axial motion with respect to the frame, in response to cyclical changes in a pressure difference between the left ventricle and the aorta. Other applications are also described.

An implantable blood pump includes a housing defining an inlet and an outlet and a flow path therethrough. A rotor is disposed within the housing. A stator is disposed within the housing, the stator being configured to rotate the rotor when a current is applied to the stator. A volute is disposed distal to the rotor proximate the outlet, the volute including a tongue composed of a piezoelectric material.

An implantable blood pump includes a housing defining an inlet and an outlet and a flow path therethrough. A rotor is disposed within the housing. A stator is disposed within the housing, the stator being configured to rotate the rotor when a current is applied to the stator. A volute is disposed distal to the rotor proximate the outlet, the volute including a tongue composed of a piezoelectric material.

Disclosed herein are heart pumps that can include a catheter body and an impeller coupled with a distal end of the catheter body. The impeller can include a tip that is resealable or that includes a resealable member. The heart pump can also include a diffuser disposed between the distal end of the catheter body and the impeller, wherein the diffuser includes a flow directing surface.

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.