Voice-Coil Actuated Pulsatile Pump for Physiologic Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing physiologic pulsatile pump systems for cardiopulmonary bypass and circulation research are analog, cumbersome, and prone to maintenance issues, with limited control over pulse rate, stroke volume, and upstroke-rise time, leading to inaccurate blood flow patterns and potential contamination of electronics.
Innovation Solution
A programmable physiologic pulsatile pump system featuring a voice-coil actuator, a fully programmable motion controller, and a touch-screen interface, which uses a hydraulic actuator with a compressible-expandable bladder to accurately duplicate blood pressure and flow patterns, eliminating the need for bulky components and reducing maintenance requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If traditional mechanical actuators are used in pulsatile pump systems, then the system can generate pulsatile pressure, but the system becomes bulky, complex, and prone to maintenance issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical actuators (motors, gears, linkages) with a voice-coil electromagnetic actuator that uses electromagnetic fields to directly position the piston. This substitution eliminates bulky mechanical components while maintaining the ability to generate precise pulsatile pressure patterns, directly resolving the contradiction between power generation and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a hydraulic fluid transmission system where the voice-coil actuator moves a piston that compresses hydraulic fluid to generate pulsatile pressure. This hydraulic mechanism efficiently transmits the small movements of the voice-coil actuator into the high-pressure pulsatile output needed for blood pumping, resolving the contradiction between compact actuator size and required pressure generation.
2Ease of operation
If traditional control systems are used in pulsatile pump systems, then the system can operate, but control precision over pulse rate, stroke volume, and upstroke-rise time is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates feedback control mechanisms where sensors monitor actual pulsatile pressure and flow parameters, and this information is fed back to the voice-coil actuator control system. This closed-loop feedback enables precise adjustment of pulse rate, stroke volume, and upstroke-rise time to match physiological requirements, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables independent control of multiple critical parameters (pulse rate, stroke volume, upstroke-rise time) through programmable control of the voice-coil actuator. By allowing separate adjustment of each parameter, the system achieves high precision in replicating physiological blood flow patterns while maintaining ease of operation through systematic control.
3Device complexity
If analog control mechanisms are used in pulsatile pump systems, then the system structure is simpler, but the system is cumbersome and prone to contamination of electronics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces analog mechanical control mechanisms with digital electronic control systems that interface with the voice-coil actuator. This substitution, while increasing electronic components, organizes them in a compact integrated manner that reduces physical bulk and incorporates protective measures against contamination, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and reliability.
4Device complexity
If voice-coil actuator is used instead of traditional mechanical actuator, then device size is reduced and reliability is improved, but control mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical linkages with a voice-coil electromagnetic actuator controlled by programmable electronics. This substitution reduces physical device size while transferring complexity from mechanical to electronic/domains, where complexity can be managed through software programming rather than mechanical design, resolving the contradiction between device size and control mechanism complexity.
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
The system provides precise control over pulse rate, stroke volume, and upstroke-rise time, reducing post-operative deaths, improving vital organ recovery, and maintaining microcirculation, while being safer and more reliable than previous systems.
Implementation Method 1
A voice-coil actuator, including a compact, highly reliable voice-coil motor and motion controller is operably associated with the hydraulic actuator for controllably moving the pressure imparting member
Implementation Method 2
The hydraulic actuator, which includes a fluid chamber containing a pressure transmissive fluid, has an outlet port in communication with the inlet port of the pulsatile flow pump housing. A pressure imparting member is mounted within the fluid chamber for movement therewithin in a manner to generate a pulsatile pressure on the transmissive fluid
Implementation Method 3
a pulsating mechanism having a housing defining a chamber within which a compressible-expandable bladder is sealably mounted
Data Source
AI summary
A pulsatile blood circulating pump system that is adapted for use in cardiopulmonary bypass, ventricular assist (LVAD, RVAD, BiVAD), ECMO, organ preservation, fetal cardiac bypass, cancer treatment, and various areas of circulation research, which can be controlled in such a way as to produce a desired blood flow that closely approximates the physiological blood flow of the patient. The pump system includes a pulsating mechanism having a housing defining a chamber within which a compressible-expandable bladder is sealably mounted. The system further includes a hydraulic actuator having a pressure imparting member that acts upon a pressure transmissive fluid contained within the actuator chamber in a manner to generate a pulsatile pressure on the transmissive fluid, which, in turn, results in a pulsatile pressure being exerted on bladder in a manner to controllably vary the volume thereof. Additionally, the system includes a compact, highly reliable voice-coil motor that is operably associated with the hydraulic actuator for controllably moving the pressure imparting member within the fluid chamber and further includes a fully programmable motion controller that controls the voice-coil motor. Further, the system includes a programmable touch-screen component that functions to control the motion controller.