Reciprocating Intravascular Blood Pump with Variable Surface Area
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current blood pumps for cardiovascular support, such as intra-aortic balloon pumps, have limitations in effectively augmenting blood flow and maintaining mechanical circulatory support, particularly in enhancing coronary and aortic blood flow.
Innovation Solution
A reciprocating device with a pump portion and a reciprocating valve is deployed in a blood vessel, featuring an anchor for engagement and a valve driver that drives the valve between open and closed configurations to manage blood flow, providing a larger effective surface area for downstream blood push and a smaller area for upstream flow management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a reciprocating device provides a large effective surface area during downstream motion to push blood, then blood flow augmentation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for variable surface area configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The reciprocating device employs dynamic motion to achieve variable effective surface area without complex mechanical transformation mechanisms. During downstream motion, the entire device surface contributes to blood pushing with a larger effective area. During upstream motion, the effective surface area is naturally reduced. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction by using temporal variation in motion direction rather than spatial mechanical transformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes periodic reciprocating motion between downstream and upstream directions to create alternating phases of large and small effective surface areas. This periodic action allows the device to provide strong blood pushing capability during the downstream phase while having reduced effective area during the upstream phase, thereby achieving blood flow augmentation without requiring complex variable geometry mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If the reciprocating valve uses leaflets to control blood flow direction, then flow management is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase for the valve structure
Solution Approach 1:
The reciprocating valve with leaflets operates autonomously based on the pressure differential created by the reciprocating motion. During downstream motion, the valve closes to direct flow; during upstream motion, the valve opens naturally. This self-regulating mechanism reduces the need for complex control systems and high-precision manufacturing, as the valve function is achieved through the inherent dynamics of the reciprocating motion and pressure differences.
3Productivity
If the device operates at frequencies higher than a beating heart, then productivity is improved, but the reliability decreases due to increased mechanical stress
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs periodic reciprocating motion at frequencies higher than the heart rate to achieve enhanced blood flow productivity. The rhythmic alternation between downstream and upstream motion phases allows the mechanical components to experience controlled cyclic stresses rather than continuous high-velocity operation, which helps manage mechanical fatigue and improves reliability while maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus is provided for deployment in a lumen of a blood vessel of a subject. The apparatus includes a reciprocating device configured to move downstream and upstream in the blood vessel in a reciprocating pattern to provide: (i) a first effective surface area of the device for pushing blood downstream in the blood vessel during downstream motion of the reciprocating device, and (ii) second effective surface area of the device during upstream motion of the reciprocating device. The first effective surface area is larger for pushing blood in the blood vessel than the second effective surface area. The apparatus further includes a device driver configured to drive the reciprocating device in the reciprocating pattern. Other applications are also described.