Patent ID: 6458164
Filing Date: 2002-10-01
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
An artificial heart assembly, comprising:a blood inlet conduit; a blood outlet conduit; a pump that is adapted to pump blood from said blood inlet conduit to said blood outlet conduit; an internal coil adapted to be implanted beneath the skin of a subject; an external coil adapted to be disposed adjacent said internal coil and separated from said internal coil by the skin of a subject, said external coil being coupled to transmit electric power to said internal coil through the skin of a subject; and a DC-to-AC converter coupled to said external coil and to a source of DC power, said DC-to-AC converter selectively converting DC power from said DC power source into either a first frequency or a second frequency, said first frequency having a plurality of cycles each of a first duration and said second frequency having a plurality of cycles each of a second duration longer than said first duration, said DC-to-AC converter comprising: a first transistor coupled in parallel with a first diode; a second transistor coupled in parallel with a second diode; a third transistor coupled in parallel with a third diode; a fourth transistor coupled in parallel with a fourth diode; and a drive circuit operatively coupled to said transistors, said drive circuit causing all four of said transistors to be switched to a nonconductive state so that said four transistors are nonconductive for a time period.