Hydraulically actuated cardiac prosthesis and method of actuation
First Claim
1. An implantable hydraulic actuation system for supplying motive power to a blood pumping chamber having a flexible portion comprising:
- an actuation fluid reservoir;
actuation fluid pumping means in fluid communication with said reservoir for providing intermittent pulses of actuation fluid;
an actuation chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path in fluid communication with said pumping means, and a separate actuation fluid outlet path in fluid communication with said reservoir;
said actuation chamber being adapted to cause displacement of the flexible portion of said blood pumping chamber in response to changes in volume of actuation fluid in said actuation chamber; and
valve means associated with said actuation chamber adapted to close or open said actuation fluid outlet path primarily in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said actuation fluid inlet path.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cardiac prosthesis having a hydraulically actuated compressible blood pump. An actuation chamber adjacent the blood pump receives pulses of hydraulic actuation fluid from an actuator pump through a fluid inlet path to compress the blood pump during systole and eject blood therefrom. Between pulses the actuation fluid is permitted to drain from the actuation chamber through an outlet path into a reservoir. Discharge of fluid through the outlet path is controlled by a dump valve which is adapted to close or open the outlet path primarily in response to forces which vary as a function of the flow of actuation fluid through the fluid inlet path.
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Citations
56 Claims
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1. An implantable hydraulic actuation system for supplying motive power to a blood pumping chamber having a flexible portion comprising:
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an actuation fluid reservoir; actuation fluid pumping means in fluid communication with said reservoir for providing intermittent pulses of actuation fluid; an actuation chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path in fluid communication with said pumping means, and a separate actuation fluid outlet path in fluid communication with said reservoir;
said actuation chamber being adapted to cause displacement of the flexible portion of said blood pumping chamber in response to changes in volume of actuation fluid in said actuation chamber; andvalve means associated with said actuation chamber adapted to close or open said actuation fluid outlet path primarily in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said actuation fluid inlet path. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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2. An implantable hydraulically actuated blood pumping system comprising:
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a blood pumping chamber having a blood inlet, a blood outlet and a flexible portion; an actuation fluid reservoir; actuation fluid pumping means in fluid communication with said reservoir for providing intermittent pulses of actuation fluid; an actuation chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path in fluid communication with said pumping means, and a separate actuation fluid outlet path in fluid communication with said reservoir, said actuation chamber being operatively associated with said blood pumping chamber to cause displacement of said flexible portion of said blood pumping chamber in response to changes in volume of actuation fluid in said actuation chamber; and valve means associated with said actuation chamber adapted to close or open said actuation fluid outlet path primarily in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said actuation fluid inlet path whereby said actuation chamber fills with actuation fluid and blood is expelled from said associated blood pumping chamber while said valve means is closed, and actuation fluid drains from said actuation chamber and said associated blood pumping chamber is allowed to fill with blood while said valve means is open. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 48, 49)
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3. An implantable hydraulically actuated total cardiac prosthesis comprising:
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a pair of blood pumping chambers each having a blood inlet, a blood outlet and a flexible portion; a pair of actuation chambers each having an actuation fluid inlet path and a separate actuation fluid outlet path, one of said actuation chambers being operatively associated with one of said blood pumping chambers and the other of said actuation chambers being operatively associated with the other of said blood pumping chambers to cause displacement of the flexible portion of said blood pumping chambers in response to changes in volume of actuation fluid in their associated actuation chambers; an actuation fluid reservoir in fluid communication with said actuation fluid outlet paths; actuation fluid pumping means in fluid communication with said reservoir and said actuation fluid inlet paths for providing intermittent pulses of actuation fluid from said reservoir to said actuation chambers; and valve means associated with said actuation chambers adapted to close or open said actuation fluid outlet path primarily in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said associated actuation fluid inlet path whereby said actuation chamber fills with actuation fluid and blood is expelled from said associated blood pumping chamber while said valve means is closed, and actuation fluid drains from said actuation chamber and said associated blood pumping chamber is allowed to fill with blood while said valve means is open. - View Dependent Claims (6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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50. A method of actuating an implantable blood pump comprising a blood pumping chamber having a blood inlet, a blood outlet, and a flexible portion, and an actuation chamber operatively associated with said blood pumping chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path, an actuation fluid outlet path and valve means associated with said actuation fluid outlet path, comprising the steps of:
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(a) delivering intermittent pulses of actuation fluid to said actuation chamber through said actuation fluid inlet path; and (b) alternately closing and opening said actuation fluid outlet path with said valve means in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said actuation fluid inlet path to cause said actuation chamber to fill with actuation fluid and blood to be expelled from said blood pumping chamber while said valve means is closed, and to cause said actuation fluid to drain from said actuation chamber and blood to fill said blood pumping chamber while said valve means is open. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56)
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51. A method of actuating an implantable blood pump comprising a blood pumping chamber having a blood inlet, a blood outlet, and a flexible portion, and an actuation chamber operatively associated with said blood pumping chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path, an actuation fluid outlet path and valve means associated with said actuation fluid outlet, comprising the steps of:
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(a) delivering intermittent pulses of actuation fluid to said actuation chamber through said actuation fluid inlet path; (b) closing said actuation fluid outlet path with said valve means at the beginning of each fluid pulse, by supplying sufficient flow of actuation fluid through said inlet path to create forces on said valve means above a predetermined threshold magnitude; (c) maintaining said actuation fluid outlet path closed with said valve means during each fluid pulse by continuing to supply sufficient flow of actuation fluid through said inlet path to maintain said forces at or above said predetermined threshold magnitude to cause actuation chamber to fill with actuation fluid and blood to be expelled from said blood pumping chamber during said fluid pulse; and (d) opening said actuation fluid outlet path with said valve means at the end of each fluid pulse by reducing the flow of actuation fluid through said inlet path to cause said forces to fall below said predetermined threshold magnitude, to cause said actuation fluid to drain from said actuation chamber and blood to fill said blood pumping chamber between said fluid pulses.
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52. A method of actuating an implantable total cardiac prosthesis having a pair of compressible blood pumping chambers each having a blood inlet, a blood outlet and a flexible portion, a separate actuation chamber operatively associated with each blood pumping chamber, each actuation chamber having an actuation fluid inlet path, an actuation fluid outlet path, and valve means associated with each actuation fluid outlet path, comprising the steps of:
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(a) delivering intermittent pulses of actuation fluid to said actuation chambers through said actuation fluid inlet paths; (b) alternately closing and opening the actuation fluid outlet path of said actuation chambers with said valve means in response to forces which vary as a function of actuation fluid flow through said actuation fluid inlet paths to cause said actuation chambers to fill with actuation fluid and blood to be expelled from said blood pumping chambers while said valve means is closed, and to cause said actuation fluid to drain from said actuation chambers and blood to fill said blood pumping chambers while said valve means is open. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54)
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Specification