Expandable Medical Fluid Pump Housing for Small-Vessel Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid pumps for medical applications face limitations in expanding their diameter due to the need to accommodate a drive shaft and rotor within the confines of small blood vessels, restricting their performance and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A fluid pump design featuring a pump housing and rotor that are displaceable relative to an actuation means, allowing them to be arranged behind or overlapping each other in the longitudinal direction, enabling efficient compression to a smaller diameter, with components like a drive shaft, pull means, and a bearing arrangement that can be displaced independently for optimal expansion and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pump diameter is increased to improve performance, then the pump can accommodate larger drive shaft and rotor components for better operational efficiency, but the pump cannot be introduced through small blood vessels to the heart chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing is designed with shape memory material that enables it to dynamically change its diameter. The housing can be compressed to a small diameter for introduction through blood vessels, then automatically expand to its original larger diameter upon reaching the heart chamber, providing both small delivery profile and large operational size
Solution Approach 2:
The pump housing utilizes temperature-dependent shape memory materials that change their physical parameters (diameter) in response to temperature changes. The housing is compressed at lower temperatures for delivery, then heated to body temperature to trigger automatic expansion to the operational diameter within the heart chamber
2Length of moving object
If the pump is compressed to a small diameter for delivery through vessels, then the pump can be introduced into the heart chamber, but the pump housing and rotor cannot be efficiently assembled or maneuvered within the compressed state
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into separable components (pump housing, rotor, drive shaft) that can be independently manipulated. The rotor and drive shaft can be assembled within the compressed pump housing through the catheter, then the entire assembly is deployed together, facilitating efficient assembly in the compressed state
Solution Approach 2:
The pump housing's dynamic shape-changing capability allows it to transition between compressed and expanded states. During delivery, the housing remains compressed to allow passage through vessels. Upon deployment, the housing expands to provide adequate space for the rotor and drive shaft to be properly positioned and operated
3Ease of operation
If the pump housing and rotor are positioned overlapping each other during operation, then the pump achieves optimal operational configuration, but the pump cannot be efficiently compressed to a smaller diameter for delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing dynamically changes diameter based on operational requirements. During delivery, the housing is compressed to a small diameter regardless of the rotor position. Upon reaching the heart chamber, the housing expands to its full diameter, allowing the rotor to be positioned in the optimal overlapping configuration for efficient operation
Solution Approach 2:
The pump housing is pre-compressed to a small diameter for delivery through the catheter. The rotor and drive shaft are preliminarily assembled within the compressed housing. After introduction into the heart chamber, the housing is expanded to its operational diameter, automatically achieving the optimal overlapping configuration between housing and rotor for pump operation
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a fluid pump device, in particular for the medical application, with a compressible pump housing and rotor, as well as with an actuation means which runs in the sleeve and on whose end the fluid pump is arranged. In order to utilize all possibilities of a space-saving arrangement of the respective pump housing of the rotor, which is compressible per se, and as the case may be, a bearing arrangement, the mentioned elements are displaceable to one another in the axial direction compared to an operation position. In particular these elements may be end-configured by way of an axial movement of the drive shaft after the assembly.