Centrifugal Pump Housing with Magnetic Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Centrifugal pumps used in extracorporeal circuits during medical procedures face challenges such as the need for ball bearings that require isolation from blood contact, potential seal failure, and increased complexity and cost due to multiple components and sealing mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A centrifugal pump design that eliminates the need for ball bearings by using a two-piece housing that mechanically latches closed, creating a liquid-tight seal without adhesives, welding, or hardware, and incorporates an impeller with vanes and magnets for magnetic coupling with the drive motor, reducing material and assembly costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If ball bearings are used in the centrifugal pump, then the impeller can rotate smoothly, but the bearings require isolation from blood contact which increases device complexity and sealing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes ball bearings entirely from the centrifugal pump design. Instead of using bearings that would require sealing mechanisms to prevent blood contact, the invention uses a magnetic coupling system where the drive shaft rotates freely within the impeller without mechanical contact, thereby eliminating the need for complex sealing mechanisms while maintaining smooth rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical bearing system with a magnetic coupling system. The drive motor uses magnetic fields to transmit rotational force to the impeller without physical contact between moving parts, substituting a mechanical friction-based system with a non-contact magnetic field-based system that eliminates sealing requirements.
2Reliability
If multiple sealing mechanisms are used to prevent blood contact with internal components, then component isolation is improved, but the risk of seal failure and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes all sealing mechanisms from the design. By using a magnetic coupling system where the drive shaft passes freely through the impeller without mechanical contact, there are no seals required to prevent blood contact with internal components, thereby eliminating seal failure risks while reducing device complexity.
3Productivity
If traditional centrifugal pump design with bearings and seals is used, then blood flow pumping capability is achieved, but production cost and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes bearings and seals from the traditional centrifugal pump design, replacing them with a magnetic coupling system. This simplification reduces the number of parts that need to be manufactured and assembled, thereby lowering production costs and assembly complexity while maintaining the blood flow pumping capability through the impeller's rotation driven by magnetic coupling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical bearing and seal system with a magnetic coupling system that is simpler to manufacture and assemble. The magnetic coupling allows the drive shaft to transmit rotational force without physical contact, eliminating the need for precision-machined bearing surfaces and complex sealing assemblies, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and assembly steps.
4Adaptability or versatility
If magnetic coupling is used to drive the impeller, then the drive motor can be isolated from blood contact for reuse, but the impeller design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drive shaft and impeller into a single integrated unit where the drive shaft passes freely through the impeller without mechanical contact. The magnetic coupling system combines the drive motor and impeller into a unified system where rotational force is transmitted through magnetic fields, allowing the drive motor to be isolated from blood contact while the impeller remains structurally simple with no additional complex components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design ensures reliable operation with reduced noise, eliminates the need for sealing bearings, and lowers production costs while maintaining effective blood flow and magnetic coupling, making it suitable for medical applications like open-heart surgery and ECMO.
Implementation Method 1
The impeller includes a plurality of vanes extending from a plate member and one or more magnets coupled to the plate member
Implementation Method 2
A centrifugal pump is sometimes utilized within an extracorporeal circuit to provide the pressurization that makes the blood flow through the circuit
Data Source
AI summary
Extracorporeal circuit devices can be used for on-pump open-heart surgery to support surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting. In some cases, a centrifugal pump is used as part of an extracorporeal circuit. Centrifugal pump heads are described herein that induce flow on two sides of an impeller plate, and that can be conveniently mechanically assembled.