Thoratec Patent Grants

Sterilizable cable system for implantable blood pump

Granted: February 18, 2014
Patent Number: 8652024
A implantable blood pump system includes a pump unit, a first percutaneous cable section, a control unit, and a second cable section connecting the control unit to the first cable section. All components except the control unit are sterilized. The connection between cable sections is removable. The connection between the control unit and second cable section is unremovable once it is assembled. The second cable section has a length sufficient to place an end outside of the sterile field…

Method for the calibration of a flow measurement in a flow system, and flow system for carrying out the method

Granted: January 21, 2014
Patent Number: 8631680
A flow rate of a fluid in a flow system is determined based on one or more parameters of the flow system, the parameters not including the flow rate itself. The flow rate is also measured with a calibration sensor, and the measured flow rate is used to calibrate how the flow rate is determined.

Catheter pump console interface

Granted: December 31, 2013
Patent Number: D696769

Non-invasive diagnostics for ventricle assist device

Granted: December 24, 2013
Patent Number: 8613696
A circulatory assist system has a pump with a motor coupled to rotate the pump at a selectable speed. A controller drives the motor at a target speed and collects blood flow measurements during operation of the pump. An impaired flow condition is identified when a plurality of successive blood flow measurements are between an expected minimum flow and a low flow threshold, such that the low flow would necessitate issuing an alert. During the impaired flow condition, it is detected…

Catheter pump

Granted: December 3, 2013
Patent Number: 8597170
A heart pump and a catheter assembly therefor are provided that include a flexible catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end, the catheter body having a plurality of lumens therethrough. The catheter body can be sufficiently flexible to extend from a peripheral access to a patient's heart. The catheter assembly can also include an impeller assembly having an impeller and a housing. The impeller assembly can be coupled with the flexible catheter body such that a tensile force…

Expandable conduit-guide and a method for applying and positioning an expandable conduit-guide

Granted: November 26, 2013
Patent Number: 8591539
An expandable conduit-guide providing a leak-tight conduit through a skin between an inside of a corpus and an outside of the corpus is disclosed. The conduit-guide includes a body encompassing a lumen extending essentially axially along a center-line, and has a distal-end to be positioned outside of the corpus, and a proximal-end to be positioned inside of the corpus. The body of the conduit-guide is constructed from a braided-wire so that the conduit-guide is capable of actively…

Self-expanding cannula and a method for applying and positioning a self-expanding cannula

Granted: November 26, 2013
Patent Number: 8591538
A self-expanding cannula providing a conduit through a skin between an inside of a corpus and an outside of the corpus is disclosed. The self-expanding cannula includes a body encompassing a lumen, and has a distal-end to be positioned outside of the corpus for attachment to an extracorporeal fluid handling system and having a proximal-end to be positioned inside of the corpus, for attachment to an organ of an human or an animal. The body of the self-expanding cannula is constructed from…

Catheter pump

Granted: November 26, 2013
Patent Number: 8591393
A heart pump is provided that comprises an elongate catheter body, an impeller disposed at the distal end of the elongate catheter body, and one or more bearings positioned between the catheter body and the impeller. A fluid supply line for delivering infusant into the catheter is provided. A fluid return line for transporting infusant out of the catheter is also provided. A pump assembly for regulating the infusant flow along the fluid supply line and fluid return line is provided as…

Rotary blood pump with opposing spindle magnets, bore and drive windings

Granted: November 12, 2013
Patent Number: 8579607
Various “contactless” bearing mechanisms including hydrodynamic and magnetic bearings are provided for a rotary pump as alternatives to mechanical contact bearings. In one embodiment, a pump apparatus includes a pump housing defining a pumping chamber. The housing has a spindle extending into the pumping chamber. A spindle magnet assembly includes first and second magnets disposed within the spindle. The first and second magnets are arranged proximate each other with their respective…

Apical ring for ventricular assist device

Granted: November 12, 2013
Patent Number: 8579790
An apical ring for coupling a conduit of a ventricular assist device to a heart has an annular disk with a central aperture for receiving the conduit. A collar is axially aligned with the central aperture and has a cylindrical shape interrupted by a gap between first and second ends of the collar. The collar has a fixed section joined to the annular disk and has a cantilever section extending from the fixed section to the first end of the collar. A tightener selectively drives the first…

Mobility-enhancing blood pump system

Granted: October 22, 2013
Patent Number: 8562508
A blood pump system includes a first implantable housing, an implantable blood pump independent from the first implantable housing, and a percutaneous extension. The first implantable housing includes a rechargeable power storage device. The implantable blood pump supplements the pumping function of a heart. The rechargeable power storage device supplies electrical power to the implantable blood pump. The percutaneous extension is coupled to the rechargeable power storage device and…

Prevention of aortic valve fusion

Granted: October 22, 2013
Patent Number: 8562507
Materials and methods related to blood pump systems are described. These can be used in patients to, for example, monitor arterial pressure, measure blood flow, maintain left ventricular pressure within a particular range, avoid left ventricular collapse, prevent fusion of the aortic valve in a subject having a blood pump, and provide a means to wean a patient from a blood pump.

Blood pump with expandable cannula

Granted: September 17, 2013
Patent Number: 8535211
A blood pump includes an impeller having a plurality of foldable blades and a cannula having a proximal portion with a fixed diameter, and a distal portion with an expandable diameter. The impeller can reside in the expandable portion of the cannula. The cannula has a collapsed condition for percutaneous delivery to a desired location within the body, and an expanded condition in which the impeller can rotate to pump blood. A flexible drive shaft can extend through the cannula for…

Generating artificial pulse

Granted: August 13, 2013
Patent Number: 8506471
In order to produce a pulsatile blood flow pattern that includes time periods of relatively high blood flow rates and time periods of relatively low blood flow rates, the operating speed of a blood pump can be selectively controlled to produce an operating speed pattern that includes time periods of relatively high rotation speeds and periods of relatively low rotation speeds. For example, the blood pump is rotated at a first speed for a first period of time. The speed of the blood pump…

Integrated centrifugal blood pump-oxygenator, an extracorporeal life support system and a method of de-bubbling and priming an extracorporeal life support system

Granted: July 30, 2013
Patent Number: 8496874
An integrated centrifugal blood pump-oxygenator (1) which has a housing (2) with a top (3) having a blood inlet (4), a blood outlet (5) and a gas inlet (6), and a bottom (7) having a rotational body (8) being rotatably arranged in a rotor-housing (9) of the bottom (7). The integrated centrifugal blood pump-oxygenator (1) further has an oxygenator membrane (10) provided in an interior (11) of the housing (2), wherein in the operation state oxygen (12) is transferred from the gas inlet (6)…

Impeller housing for percutaneous heart pump

Granted: July 16, 2013
Patent Number: 8485961
Disclosed herein are heart pumps that include a catheter assembly and that can be applied percutaneously. Some embodiments include a locking device that prevents components of the catheter assembly from being separated when in use. The catheter assembly can include an expandable tip. In some embodiments, the catheter assembly includes a housing having a wall structure, a portion of which can have a bulbuous shape or can be deformable. In other embodiments, the housing can be configured…

Blood flow meter

Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number: 8449444
Materials and methods related to blood pump systems are described. These can be used in patients to, for example, monitor arterial pressure, measure blood flow, maintain left ventricular pressure within a particular range, avoid left ventricular collapse, prevent fusion of the aortic valve in a subject having a blood pump, and provide a means to wean a patient from a blood pump.

Blood flow meter

Granted: April 23, 2013
Patent Number: 8425398
Materials and methods related to blood pump systems are described. These can be used in patients to, for example, monitor arterial pressure, measure blood flow, maintain left ventricular pressure within a particular range, avoid left ventricular collapse, prevent fusion of the aortic valve in a subject having a blood pump, and provide a means to wean a patient from a blood pump.

Bi-ventricular percutaneous cable

Granted: March 5, 2013
Patent Number: 8388384
A percutaneous cable includes a cable body having a first end and second end, the cable body including a sheath adapted to traverse a patient's skin. The cable includes a plurality of conductors disposed within the cable body configured to transmit power and control data between a system controller and two implantable pumps. The cable includes a first connector disposed at the first end of the cable body and coupled to the plurality of conductors, the first connector configured to…

Staged implantation of ventricular assist devices

Granted: March 5, 2013
Patent Number: 8388649
The invention comprises an embolization device for insertably sealing a cannula. The embolization device comprises a sealing cap at a first end and a carrier surface at a second end. The carrier surface is adapted to carry a coagulating material and induces an embolism at a position proximal to the second end and an elongate stem adapted to be inserted within the cannula.