Conveying blades for a compressible rotor

[0001] The invention is in the field of mechanical engineering, in particular microengineering, and relates to conveying blades for rotors of fluid pumps which are particularly suitable for use in areas which are difficult to access.

[0002] Such pumps can be configured so small as micropumps in medical engineering, for example, that they can be introduced into blood vessels with microinvasiveness. They can then be used for assisting the pumping force of the human heart.

[0003] To make such pumps advantageously deployable, they are often designed compressible and expandable so that they can be introduced in a compressed state through a blood vessel, for example up to and into a ventricle, and can be expanded there.

[0004] Provision is often made for this purpose that a corresponding rotor of the pump which can be driven very fast in operation is radially changeable, i.e. compressible and expandable between the transport state and the operating state.

[0005] Similar applications are, however, also conceivable in the non-medical area with larger pumps which should be used in regions difficult to access.

[0006] A plurality of such pumps are already known, with different principles being used to achieve compressibility. It is known from WO 98/53864 to use an axial flow pump having a rotor, wherein the rotor has the form of a rigid tube which is externally journalled in a stator. In this respect, the drive can be directly integrated into the stator and the rotor as an electromagnetic drive.

[0007] A pump having a compressible rotor is, in contrast thereto, known from WO 03/103745 A2, wherein the rotor with this pump has an unfoldable rotor blade which unfolds in operation due to the fluid pressure of the blood.

[0008] A pump is known in WO 2006/051023 having a rotor which has two cover surfaces and centrifugal blades disposed therebetween. The cover surfaces are pivotably fastened to the hub by means of joints.

[0009] It is the underlying object of the present invention with regard to the prior art to provide a rotor or a conveying blade for a rotor which are compressible and expandable and in this respect have a construction design which is as simple as possible, are reliable and durable as well as inexpensive in manufacture.

[0010] In this respect, a corresponding conveying blade has at least two struts as well as a membrane held between them in the expanded state of the rotor or in the elongated state of the struts, and the struts in turn each have at least one joint, in particular more than one joint, which allows an angling in one direction in a first movement plane and bounds an overelongation beyond an elongation angle, in particular 180°, in the opposite second direction within the first movement plane. The elongation angle can also be less than 180°, for example 170°, 160° or 180°, or more than 180°, for example 190°, 200° or 210°, if a strut is intended to be realized which is curved in the operating state. The elongation angle of mutually adjacent joints can be equal, but can also vary. In this respect, a further deformation beyond the elongation angle can moreover be possible in operation by mechanical strain on the struts by a fluid counter-pressure while utilizing the elasticity of the strut sections and the inherent elasticity of the joint material, with the force required for a further deformation/elongation, however, rising steeply on a reaching of the elongation angle.

[0011] The joint or joints are in this respect arranged over the length of the individual struts and are at least partly spaced apart from the hub such that they separate different sections of the struts from one another and allow the mutual angling of the individual sections. The conveying blade can thereby be easily folded or rolled up.

[0012] In this respect, at least one joint is spaced apart from a hub of the rotor, for example by at least the radios or twice the radius of the hub.

[0013] All of the joints, or at least the majority of joints, are advantageously kinkable in the same direction of movement so that the total conveying blade can be rolled up.

[0014] Such a joint kinkable in one direction is in particular at least further pivotable in this first direction than in the opposite second direction within the same movement plane. The movability of a joint is thus asymmetrically bounded in the two opposite directions starting from the elongated position.

[0015] In the rolled-up state, the conveying blade or the rotor to which it is fastened thus has a small radial extent and can thus easily be brought to the operating site.

[0016] Alternatively, adjacent joints can also be able to be angled in opposite directions to enable a concertina-like folding together. It is important in this respect that all the joints of the struts are brought into a defined, elongated position by the fluid counter-pressure and are stabilized there. The named joints are generally advantageously, but not necessarily, configured as flexural hinges, integral hinges or hinge joints.

[0017] After being brought to the operating site/deployment site, the rotor can be driven so that the conveying blade or a plurality of conveying blades are erected by centrifugal forces and/or by a fluid counter-pressure which is adopted.

[0018] In a modified embodiment, the unfolding of the rotor can also be realized by elastic restoring forces in the joints. The elastic restoring forces can also become effective in combination with centrifugal forces or fluid counter-pressure.

[0019] The active area of the conveying blade or conveying blades is thus increased so that the corresponding fluid pump has a good efficiency in operation.

[0020] To stabilize the respective conveying blade in expanded form in the deployed state, provision is made that the individual joints bound an overelongation of the strut or of the mutually adjacent sections beyond the elongation angle. In this respect, the respective joint can also be able to be elongated elastically some degrees beyond 180°, but advantageously no more than 200°. The conveying blade can thus, for example, react with elastic yielding to impact strains in operation.

[0021] A plurality of joints, for example two, more than five, more than ten or more than twenty joints, are advantageously provided at each of the struts to facilitate a smooth rolling up, folding up or compressing of the conveying blades.

[0022] The different struts can be mutually connected to one another by further struts which facilitate an opening of the conveying blades and can hold the membrane spanned. These connection struts can in turn be connected to the joints.

[0023] At least two struts, in particular also three struts, can advantageously be arranged parallel to one another or in fan shape starting from a common base. An ergonomically favorable conveying blade which can be fastened to a hub of a rotor can thus easily be designed from two or more struts. The conveying blade can, for example, have the form of an airplane propeller blade overall.

[0024] The individual struts can advantageously start from a common point in the region of the hub, expand the conveying blade radially outwardly in the manner of a fan and, optionally, converge again radially outwardly toward the tip of the conveying blade or be connected to one another there by a transverse strut.

[0025] Provision can, however, also be made that the struts are fastened to an arc segment in the region of the hub, for example to an arc segment of a circle or to an elliptical arc segment or to a ring which is outwardly fastened to the hub. Different arc segments of a circle of different conveying blades can then be combined to a circular ring which can easily be pushed onto a hub of a rotor.

[0026] Provision can moreover advantageously be made that the first movement plane which corresponds to an expanded state of the rotor in the maximum elongated state of the joints extends parallel to a common plane of the struts or tangentially to the membrane spanned between the struts in the region of said struts. In this case, the conveying blade can easily be flipped together or folded together or rolled up in the plane of the membrane or tangentially to the membrane surface and can be rolled up around the hub in the compressed state of the rotor, for example in the peripheral direction.

[0027] Provision can be made alternatively to this that the first movement plane which corresponds to an expanded state of the rotor in the maximum elongated state of the struts extends substantially perpendicular to a common plane of the struts or extends perpendicular to the membrane spanned between the struts in the region of said struts. In this case, each of the conveying blades can be rolled up, flipped over or folded perpendicular to the plane of the blade surface so that the conveying blades can, for example, be laid against the hub parallel thereto in the longitudinal direction to minimize the radial extent of the rotor.

[0028] The individual joints prevent a corresponding compression movement in the respective direction opposed to the kinking so that the conveying blades are stabilized in operation.

[0029] A folding together of the respective rotor can, for example, thereby take place or be supported in that the rotor is braked or is moved against the operating direction during pumping. Provision can be made that the joints are biased such that they are only held in the elongated state in operation by the fluid counter-pressure or the centrifugal force so that the rotor or the conveying blades automatically roll up when the rotor is stationary.

[0030] An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that at least one joint has a support element at which at least one section of a strut is rotatably mounted and two adjacent sections are supported in the elongated state. The respective support element can be configured, for example, as a plate having a bearing block at which a respective section of a strut is mounted so that it is kinkable in a first direction with respect to the support element or with respect to a second section of the strut, but can only be angled in a second movement direction up to the elongation angle, for example, not substantially more than 180° into an elongated position of the strut. In this respect, in dependence on the position of the bearing block or the bearing point, the respective section can in each case abut the support element to bound the elongation movement either on the side of the bearing facing the second section or on the side of the bearing remote from the second section.

[0031] The support element can advantageously be structured symmetrically with respect to a center plane between two sections mutually adjacent at the joint. The support element can moreover comprise a material which is more elastic than the material of the strut.

[0032] A further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a first section of the strut is pivotably journalled at a second section of the strut in a bearing of a joint such that the two sections partly overlap in the longitudinal direction in the elongated position and that the first section has a pivot lever on a first side of the bearing and a support lever on the other side of the bearing, with the support lever being supported at the second section in the elongated state of the joint.

[0033] In the elongated state of the strut, the two mutually adjacent sections are approximately parallel to one another and are supported on one another such that the first section is mounted in a bearing fastened to the second section and has a pivot lever on the one side of the bearing and a support lever on the oppositely disposed side of the bearing, with the support lever being supported at the second section in the elongated state. In the opposite direction, the pivot lever is freely pivotable and the support lever is distanced from the point at which it is supported at the second section in the elongated state.

[0034] Alternatively to this, provision can also be made that a first section of the strut is mounted at a second section of the strut in the bearing of a joint such that the two sections partly overlap in the longitudinal direction in the elongated position and that the first section has a pivot lever on a first side of the bearing and a support lever on the second side of the bearing, with the pivot lever being supported at the end of the second section in the elongated state. In this case, the pivot lever is in turn supported at the second section and is freely movable in the opposite direction in the elongated state.

[0035] A further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a first section of the strut and a second section of the strut are arranged adjacent to one another at the end face in the elongated state and are connected to one another by means of an asymmetrical film hinge.

[0036] The two sections can generally be kinked with respect to one another with respect to the angle enclosed between them by the provision of a film hinge. It is ensured by the asymmetrical design of the film hinge that the kinking is possible in a first direction, but is bounded in a second direction in the elongated state of the strut.

[0037] Provision can specifically be made for this purpose that the film hinge is arranged at the side of the strut disposed inwardly in the compressed state of the rotor and in the kinked state of the strut where the sections of the strut kinked with respect to one another include the smaller angle with one another and that each of the sections forms an abutment at the outwardly disposed side of the strut, with the abutments contacting one another in the elongated state of the strut.

[0038] The inwardly disposed side of the strut means the side which has an angle less than 180° in the compressed state of the conveying blade. In this region, different mutually adjacent sections of the strut can be folded toward one another. The opposite side of the strut with respect to its longitudinal axis or longitudinal plane is called the outer side.

[0039] A corresponding film hinge can either comprise a different material than the sections and can be connected to both sections, for example by adhesive bonding, welding or other joining techniques, or the film hinge can comprise the same material as the sections and also be contiguous thereto in one piece.

[0040] It is, for example, possible in this case to provide the film hinge by introduction of a cut-out at the outer side of the strut. Such a cut-out can, for example, be introduced by laser cutting, etching or other erosion techniques. The corresponding cut-out can be introduced as a straight section or also as a wedge-shaped cut-out or in another form. The size of the cut-out determines when the two sections of the strut abut one another at the outer side disposed opposite the film hinge on a movement of the strut in the elongation direction and thus bound an overelongation.

[0041] In another alternative of the embodiment of a joint, provision can also be made that the first and second sections of the strut are connected to one another at the end face by means of a joint section which comprises a material at the inner side of the strut at least up to the center plane of the strut which is more easily compressible than the material on the outer side of the strut. A separate joint section is then provided which has a different structure on the inner side and outer side of the strut, for example is comprised of different materials. The material on the inner side of the strut is advantageously easily compressible, at least more easily compressible than on the outer side of the strut. The material located at the outer side of the strut can be designed as stretchable, as hard as possible and non-compressible. With good compressibility, the material on the inner side of the strut (which is therefore more compressible than on the outer side) can be configured as highly tensile, for example can be reinforced through highly tensile fibers.

[0042] Provision can also be made that the strut is coated on the outside in the joint region with a material which is harder than the material of the joint section.

[0043] The invention also relates, in addition to a conveying blade for a compressible rotor, to a rotor for a fluid pump which is provided with corresponding conveying blades. The invention furthermore also relates to a corresponding fluid pump, in particular to a blood pump for the medical area, which is equipped with a corresponding compressible rotor or compressible conveying blades in accordance with the invention.

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a heart pump 1 which is located at its deployment site in the interior of a ventricle 3 and has a rotor 2 which has conveying blades on a hub 10 and is arranged inside a pump housing 9. The pump housing 9 is located at the transition from a blood vessel 4 to the ventricle 3. The pump is able to suck blood out of the ventricle 3 and to convey it into the blood vessel 4.

[0062] The pump 1 is arranged at the end of a hollow catheter 5 which is introduced through a sluice 8 into the body of a patient or into the blood vessel 4 and which accommodates a shaft 6 in its interior which can be driven at high speeds and is connected to the hub 10 within the pump. The shaft 6 is connected to a motor 7 at its proximal end at the drive side.

[0063] To transport the pump 1 through the blood vessel, it can be radially compressed in order then to be radially expanded after being brought into the ventricle 3 and to achieve a correspondingly improved efficiency or the desired pump performance.

[0064] FIG. 2 shows by way of example a conveying blade 11 of the rotor 2 in accordance with the invention in which a membrane is spanned between three struts 12, 13, 14 and is fastened to the individual struts, for example, by means of adhesive bonding, welding or in a similar manner.

[0065] The membrane can also be attached simply by dipping the struts into a liquid plastic, for example polyurethane. The struts 12, 13, 14 each have a plurality of joints 15, 16, 17 of which three or four are respectively shown at the individual struts.

[0066] The struts 12, 13, 14 converge at their base at a point 37 in which they are fastened to a hub 10.

[0067] The nature of the joints 15, 16, 17 will be looked at in more detail further below.

[0068] FIG. 3 shows a modified construction of a conveying blade 11′ with struts 12′, 13′, 14′ which each have joints 15′, 16′, 17′ and which converge at a base 37′ which is configured in the form of a segment of an arc of a circle and can be fastened to a correspondingly formed hub 10 of a rotor.

[0069] The movement plane which is aligned within the plane of the struts 12′, 13′, 14′ or tangentially to the membrane at the respective point is shown by the arrows 38, 39 in FIG. 3.

[0070] The directions perpendicular to the corresponding plane of the membrane or of the tangential surface of the membrane at the respective point are indicated by the arrows 40, 41.

[0071] FIG. 4 shows two conveying blades of which the upper one is marked by 11″ and is shown in more detail. The two conveying blades are fastened radially opposite to one another, symmetrically at a hub 10. The conveying blade 11″ has struts 12″, 13″ between which a membrane is spanned, with each of the struts as well as a third strut 14″ disposed between them having joints 15″, 16″, 17″ which are kinkable in the plane perpendicular to the surface of the conveying blade 11″ or at the respective struts perpendicular to the membrane surface or to the tangent of the membrane surface.

[0072] In this way, the individual conveying blades 11″ can be folded onto the hub 10 in the axial direction thereof as is shown in FIG. 5 in the compressed state of the rotor with reference to the struts 12″ and 13″.

[0073] The struts 12″, 13″ are radially erected in operation by centrifugal forces by rotation of the hub, driven by the shaft 6 shown in FIG. 1.

[0074] FIG. 6 shows a further rotor having two conveying blades of which the upper one is marked by 11′″. It has struts 12′″, 13′″, 14′″ which are provided with respective joints 15′″, 16′″, 17′″. The joints are each kinkable in a first movement direction within the plane of the conveying blade, i.e. parallel to the membrane in the region of the respective strut or to a tangential surface of the membrane so that the conveying blades 11′″ can be flipped or folded onto the hub 10 in the peripheral direction.

[0075] In the compressed state, the struts 12′″, 13′″ lie about the hub 10, as is shown in more detail in FIG. 7.

[0076] FIG. 8 shows the construction of the joints in a first embodiment in more detail, with a support element 20 being shown in the form of a plate between two sections 18, 19 of a strut. The support element 20 has two bearing blocks 21, 22 which are shown in more detail in a side view in FIG. 9 and in which a respective bearing shaft 21′, 22′ is journalled. The sections 18, 19 are rotatably journalled on the corresponding shafts.

[0077] The section 19 is additionally shown by dashed lines in the overelongated position 19′ on the right hand side of the support element 20 and the second is supported at this position at the point marked by 43 at the support element 20, whereby a further angling of the section 19 with respect to the section 18 is prevented.

[0078] The section 19 on the right hand side is marked by 19″ in the kinked position which is likewise shown by dashed lines. The corresponding strut is angled or folded with the sections 18, 19 in this kinked position so that the rotor adopts a compressed position.

[0079] Only the angled position of section 18 is shown by 18″ at the left hand side.

[0080] FIG. 10 represents a further embodiment of the invention in which a support element has been omitted, the two sections 41, 42 partly cover one another in the elongated position in the longitudinal direction, with the section 42 having a pivot lever 43 and a support lever 44 at both sides of the bearing point 23 and with the pivot lever 43 projecting beyond the other section 41 and being able to be angled.

[0081] In FIG. 11, the arrangement is shown with the two sections 41, 42 in a maximally elongated position, with the section 42′ pivoted with respect to FIG. 10 being shown in the maximally overelongated position. The support lever 44 is supported against the section 41 in this position. A further overelongation of the strut which has the two sections 41, 42 is thus prevented.

[0082] It is important for such an embodiment of a joint that the longitudinal axis 24, 25 or the pivot planes of the two sections 42, 41 are located in the same plane or in parallel planes which are only minimally offset with respect to one another.

[0083] In FIG. 12, a strut having two sections 27, 28 which are connected to one another by a joint section 29 is shown schematically.

[0084] FIG. 13 shows in more specific form a cut-out 30 in the form of a slit or incision which is introduced into the strut between the sections 27′, 28′.

[0085] FIG. 14 shows the strut of FIG. 13 in a kinked arrangement of the sections 27′, 28′, with the film hinge 31 lying on the inner side of the strut and the cut-out 30 on its outer side. The sections 27′, 28′ thus include a smaller angle on the inner side than on the outer side when the strut is angled.

[0086] In the elongated state of the strut, the sections on the inner side have an angle which amounts to a maximum of 180°, or only a little above it, for example to a maximum of 190°.

[0087] In FIG. 15, another form of the cut-out 32 is shown which does not follow a straight cut, but rather a more complicated shape and which thus provide a longer and more flexible film hinge. Such a complex cut-out 32 can be introduced, for example, by means of laser cutting or etching techniques or other erosive processing techniques.

[0088] FIG. 16 represents another alternative in the formation of a joint at a strut. In FIG. 16, the joint section between two sections 27′″ and 28′″ is marked by 33. This joint section 32 has a material 34 on the inner side which can also extend over the center plane 45 of the corresponding strut up to the outer side of the strut which extends perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

[0089] A layer 35 is advantageously provided at the outer side of the strut, said layer being harder than the material 34 and above all being incompressible so that the strut cannot be angled toward the outer side and the overelongation of the strut is already prevented by the property of the material of the part 35. The material 34 is advantageously easily compressible, but solid.

[0090] In addition, a layer 36 is shown in FIG. 16 which can likewise be attached to the outer side of the strut instead of the layer 35, or additionally thereto, but is stretchable just like the material of the layer 35 so that, on the one hand, a kinking of the sections 27′″, 28′″ toward the inner side of the strut is allowed, a kinking of the sections toward the outer side is, however, limited.

[0091] A simple compressibility of a rotor for a fluid pump is achieved by the design in accordance with the invention of conveying blades or of a rotor for a fluid pump having the corresponding joints so that the conveying blades can be brought into the compressed state completely without counter-forces or with small elastic counter-forces and can also be erected again after being brought to the operating site. The described joints are of simple design, are simple to manufacture and are reliable and give the corresponding conveying blades a high flexibility.