Patent ID: 11931563
Assignee: CARDIOVOL, LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for a heart of a patient comprising:
a cardiac assist device adapted to be implanted into the patient to assist the heart with pumping blood, the cardiac assist device has a shaft that is adapted to be positioned in the heart, the cardiac assist device includes a pump including a motor and an impeller disposed in the shaft which is driven by the motor to assist the heart with pumping blood, the pump draws blood from a left ventricle of the heart through an inlet port of the shaft and expels blood into an ascending aorta of the heart through an outlet port of the shaft, thereby reducing some mechanical load on the heart and promoting recovery; and
a sensor adapted to be implanted into the patient, the sensor having a computer, the computer having a signal generator adapted to generate source signals, the sensor in communication with the cardiac assist device in the heart, the sensor adapted to obtain diagnostic information about the heart when the cardiac assist device is in operation and the patient is in recovery as a function of native cardiac output (CO), the sensor includes electrodes directly attached to the cardiac assist device adapted to produce the source signals for directly measuring only a native volume of the heart, and the electrodes are in direct contact with the shaft that is positioned in the heart using only admittance-based measurements, the computer adapted to perform data acquisition and analysis of the source signals, the computer in communication with the electrodes, the source signals which include electrical currents having a frequency, the computer adapted to measure corresponding voltages to make admittance-based measurements and analyze the admittance-based measurements to make real-time admittance-based volume measurements of the heart and measure native volume of the heart.