Axial Flow Blood Pump With Variable Pitch Rotor Blades
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional axial flow blood pumps create shear forces that lead to blood cell degradation, are inefficient across varying patient regimes due to fixed RPM designs, and induce turbulence and cavitation, affecting blood flow naturally varying between resting and moving states.
Innovation Solution
An axial flow blood pump with rotor blades having multiple configurations, allowing optimal accommodation of various flow regimes, including coiled designs, varying pitch, and heights, to minimize shear stress and cavitation, and featuring a flow inducer and diffuser for improved blood flow management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the rotor is designed with fixed RPM optimization, then the pump functions optimally in a short range of RPM, but it creates turbulence and shear stress that degrades blood cells across varying patient regimes
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor blades are designed with variable pitch capability, allowing the blade angle to dynamically adjust based on operating conditions. This enables the pump to maintain optimal efficiency across a wide range of RPM while minimizing turbulence and shear stress that cause blood cell degradation, rather than being fixed for a narrow optimal range
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the rotor blades by incorporating multiple blade configurations with different pitch angles within the same rotor assembly. This allows selection of appropriate blade parameters for different operating regimes, maintaining efficiency while reducing harmful effects across varying patient conditions
2Productivity
If the pump is designed for optimal function in a short RPM range, then efficiency is maximized at that range, but it creates excessive turbulence and cavitation when operating outside that range
Solution Approach 1:
The variable pitch rotor blades dynamically adjust their angle to match operating conditions, preventing excessive turbulence and cavitation that would occur with fixed-blade designs when operating outside the narrow optimal RPM range. This maintains efficiency while minimizing harmful fluid dynamics effects across all operating conditions
3Ease of manufacture
If the rotor uses uniform blade configurations, then manufacturing is simplified, but the pump cannot accommodate varying flow regimes effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor is segmented into multiple blade configurations with different pitch angles, allowing each segment to be optimized for specific flow regimes. This segmentation enables the pump to effectively accommodate varying flow conditions while maintaining manufacturability through modular blade design and assembly
Data Source
AI summary
An axial flow blood pump having a rotor rotatably mounted in a housing. The rotor includes at least two rotor blades having different configurations.