Intravascular Blood Pump Outflow Hose for Heart Valve Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fixed-diameter intravascular blood pumps are sensitive to longitudinal shifts, which can lead to inefficient operation and hemolysis due to the intake and output ports being displaced to the same side of a heart valve, and lengthening the intake cannula to mitigate this issue increases hydraulic loss.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an outflow hose that longitudinally separates the discharge port from the pump output port, maintaining the intake and output ports on opposite sides of the heart valve without extending the cannula, and optionally using a radially collapsible or expandable design to facilitate insertion and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the intake cannula is lengthened to increase spacing between intake and output ports, then the pump becomes less sensitive to longitudinal shifts, but hydraulic loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The blood flow path is segmented into two separate conduits: an intake cannula for blood entry and an outflow hose for blood discharge. This segmentation allows the discharge port to be positioned downstream from the pump without requiring a longer intake cannula, thus maintaining short intake path (low hydraulic loss) while achieving sufficient longitudinal spacing (high shift tolerance).
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from solely longitudinal spacing through cannula extension to a combination of longitudinal spacing via outflow hose and downstream positioning. The outflow hose extends in the downstream direction from the pump output port, creating spacing in a different spatial arrangement that doesn't require increasing the intake cannula length.
2Reliability
If an outflow hose is added to increase longitudinal spacing, then tolerance to longitudinal shifts improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The outflow hose serves multiple functions: it conducts pumped blood from the pump output port to the discharge port, provides longitudinal spacing to reduce sensitivity to pump positioning, and can be designed with collapsible features to facilitate insertion and removal. This multi-functionality justifies the added component by achieving multiple objectives with a single element.
3Ease of operation
If a collapsible or expandable outflow hose is used to facilitate insertion, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The outflow hose is designed with collapsible or expandable characteristics, transitioning from a compressed low-profile state during insertion to an expanded functional state during operation. This dynamic transformation allows the hose to navigate through catheters and delivery systems easily, then maintain structural integrity and provide adequate spacing when deployed, balancing ease of insertion with operational effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
An intravascular blood pump includes a pump housing having an input port and an output port. A relatively short intake cannula may draw blood in through an intake port and deliver the blood to the input port of the pump housing. The intake cannula is relatively short, to prevent excess hydraulic loss. An outflow hose is connected to the output port of the pump housing, so as to convey blood exiting the output port through the outflow hose in a downstream direction to a discharge port, e.g. into an aorta or other blood vessel. Despite the short intake cannula, the outflow hose longitudinally separates the intake port from the discharge port sufficiently so the intake port and the discharge port remain on opposite sides of a heart valve, despite inadvertent longitudinal shifts of the intravascular heart pump.