Patent ID: 6969345

Claim:
A ventricular assist device for pumping blood between an inlet and an outlet, said device comprising: an implantable frame; a pair of compressible chambers disposed within said frame, said pair of compressible chambers including a first chamber connected to the inlet and a second chamber connected to the outlet; an actuator disposed between said pair of compressible chambers and movable therebetween, where the movement of said actuator increases the volume of one of said pair of compressible chambers and decreases the volume of the other of said pair of compressible chambers; a one-way valve for providing fluid communication from said first chamber to said second chamber; and a drive unit adapted to alternately move said actuator towards one or the other of said pair of compressible chambers, wherein the movement of said actuator towards said first chamber is a transfer stroke that transfers said blood within said first chamber to said second chamber, and wherein the movement of said actuator towards said second chamber is a pump stroke that fills said first chamber from said inlet and empties said second chamber into said outlet.