Blood Pump Housing Assembly for Smooth Flow and Tissue Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ventricular assist devices face challenges in preventing cardiac structures from entering the pump mechanism, which can cause damage and hinder efficient blood flow, while also risking hemolysis due to rough surfaces and inadequate blood flow management.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a pump-outlet tube with strategically sized and shaped blood-inlet openings, a smooth inner lining, and a protective braid to prevent cardiac structures from entering the frame, while ensuring efficient blood flow and reducing hemolysis through a structured assembly process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pump-outlet tube has large blood-inlet openings to allow sufficient blood flow, then blood flow efficiency is improved, but cardiac structures can enter the frame and cause damage
Solution Approach 1:
The pump-outlet tube is segmented with multiple blood-inlet openings of specific sizes distributed along its length, rather than having a single large opening. This segmentation allows sufficient total blood flow area while each individual opening is small enough to prevent cardiac structures from entering the frame
Solution Approach 2:
The pump-outlet tube has non-uniform local quality with openings of different sizes at different locations. The opening sizes are specifically optimized so that larger openings are positioned where blood flow demand is higher, while smaller openings are positioned to prevent structure ingestion, creating local quality variations that simultaneously optimize flow and protection
2Volume of moving object
If the frame struts are positioned closely together to reduce device size, then device compactness is improved, but assembly difficulty increases due to limited access for impeller insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The frame struts are designed with dynamic positioning capability, allowing them to be moved apart during the assembly process to create sufficient access for impeller insertion. After assembly, the struts return to their closely spaced operational positions, achieving both easy assembly and compact device size
Solution Approach 2:
The frame is prepared in advance with struts in an open or separated configuration before impeller insertion. This preliminary action creates the necessary access space for assembly, after which the struts are positioned closely together for the final compact configuration
3Ease of manufacture
If the inner surface of the frame is left rough to reduce manufacturing complexity, then manufacturing ease is improved, but hemolysis increases due to rough surfaces contacting blood
Solution Approach 1:
An inner lining is introduced as an intermediary layer between the rough frame structure and the blood. This lining provides a smooth blood-contacting surface that prevents hemolysis, while the underlying frame can maintain its simpler rougher manufactured surface, decoupling the manufacturing simplicity requirement from the smooth surface requirement
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods are described for manufacturing a housing for an impeller of a blood pump. A mandrel is placed inside an inner lining, with a central cylindrical portion of a frame disposed around the inner lining, the mandrel being shorter than a length of the inner lining. A portion of an elongate tube is placed around at least a portion of the frame. The inner lining, the frame and the portion of the elongate tube are heated, via the mandrel, and, while heating the inner lining, the frame, and the portion of the elongate tube, pressure is applied from outside the portion of the elongate tube, such as to cause the portion of the elongate tube to become coupled to the frame. Other applications are also described.