Hydraulically actuated cardiac prosthesis
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 said actuation chamber further including a manifold and a flow gate intercommunicating the interior of said manifold and the interior of said actuation chamber through which actuation fluid passes when filling said actuation chamber, said actuation fluid inlet and outlet paths being formed in the wall of said manifold; 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, said valve means comprising a closure member disposed within and partially blocking said flow gate, said closure member being movable within said flow gate between a closed position blocking said actuation fluid outlet and an open position clear of said actuation fluid outlet, and spring means biasing said closure member toward its open position, whereby said closure member is movable to its closed position at the beginning of each fluid pulse when the differential pressure force across said closure member exceeds the magnitude of the force of said spring means.
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.
74 Citations
34 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 and said actuation chamber further including a manifold and a flow gate intercommunicating the interior of said manifold and the interior of said actuation chamber through which actuation fluid passes when filling said actuation chamber, said actuation fluid inlet and outlet paths being formed in the wall of said manifold; 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, said valve means comprising a closure member disposed within and partially blocking said flow gate, said closure member being movable within said flow gate between a closed position blocking said actuation fluid outlet and an open position clear of said actuation fluid outlet, and spring means biasing said closure member toward its open position, whereby said closure member is movable to its closed position at the beginning of each fluid pulse when the differential pressure force across said closure member exceeds the magnitude of the force of said spring means. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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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 said actuation chamber further including a manifold and a flow gate intercommunicating the interior of said manifold and the interior of said actuation chamber through which actuation fluid passes when filling said actuation chamber, said actuation fluid inlet and outlet paths being formed in the wall of said manifold; 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 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, said valve means comprising a closure member disposed within and partially blocking said flow gate, said closure member being movable within said flow gate between a closed position blocking said actuation fluid outlet and an open position clear of said actuation fluid outlet, and spring means biasing said closure member toward its open position, whereby said closure member is movable to its closed position at the beginning of each fluid pulse when the differential pressure force across said closure member exceeds the magnitude of the force of said spring means. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 33, 34)
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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;
said actuation chambers each further including a manifold and a flow gate intercommunicating the interior of said manifold and the interior of said actuation chamber through which actuation fluid passes when filling said actuation chamber, said actuation fluid inlet and outlet paths being formed in the wall of said manifold;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, said valve means comprising a closure member disposed within and partially blocking said flow gate, said closure member being movable within said flow gate between a closed position blocking said actuation fluid outlet and an open position clear of said actuation fluid outlet, and spring means biasing said closure member toward its open position, whereby said closure member is movable to its closed position at the beginning of each fluid pulse when the differential pressure force across said closure member exceeds the magnitude of the force of said spring means. - View Dependent Claims (6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification