Patent ID: 7217236
Filing Date: 2007-05-15
Classification: A61M

Abstract:
1. A pneumatic ventricular assist device for assisting in the pumping of blood to and from a heart, wherein the device comprises: a. a split pump housing having two housing halves that fit together to define an interior chamber with a pump inlet and a pump outlet; and b. a pumping unit, for pumping blood, comprising: a flexible blood sac configured to reside in the chamber and having a sac inlet and a sac outlet; first and second one-way valves, not integral with the blood sac, dimensioned to fit in the pump inlet and pump outlet, respectively connected to the sac inlet and sac outlet, wherein the first and second one-way valves are one-piece, hinge-less valves each having a valve inlet side, a valve outlet side, and a pair of flexible valve leaflet portions separating the valve inlet and outlet sides, wherein each pair of the leaflet portions: