Patent ID: 9579433
Date: 2017-02-28
CPC Classifications: A61M

Claim:
1. An implantable blood pump comprising: (a) a housing defining a bore having an inlet, an outlet and an axis extending between the ends; (b) one or more rotors disposed within the bore coaxial with the bore, each rotor including a permanent magnet; (c) one or more stators disposed outside of the bore each opposite a rotor for providing a rotating magnetic field within the bore; (d) a first gripper mechanically connected to the housing and to the one or more stators, the first gripper being adapted to engage a wall of an artery and hold the housing and stators in an operative position at least partially within the artery; (e) a driveline extending downstream from the pump; and (f) a plurality of second grippers along the length of the driveline for maintaining the driveline away from the wall of the artery; (g) a plurality of gripper supports attached along the length of the driveline at a predetermined distance from one another, each of the plurality of second grippers associated with one of the plurality of gripper supports, the one or more rotors being constructed and arranged so that during operation of the pump the one or more rotors are suspended within the bore of the housing and out of contact with the housing solely by forces selected from the group consisting of magnetic and hydrodynamic forces on the rotors.