Patent ID: 8628459

Claim:
An axial flow blood pump comprising: a tubular pump housing having a housing inlet and a housing outlet; a rotor within said tubular pump housing having a rotational axis and an upstream end and a downstream end axially aligned with said upstream end between said housing inlet and housing outlet, said rotor being provided with a plurality of spaced apart grooves each extending from a respective axially directed fluid entry opening thereto at said upstream end to and including an enlarged axially directed fluid exit channel terminating at said downstream end, said grooves defining a plurality of peripheral land areas therebetween, each of said grooves being defined by sidewalls projecting substantially radially outwardly relative to the rotational axis of said rotor as boundaries for respective peripheral land areas, said sidewalls defining said axially directed fluid entry openings and diverging to define said axially directed fluid exit channels, said grooves having portions curved relative to said rotational axis to direct blood flow axially therein to enhance downstream fluid flow characteristics in an axial direction when said rotor is rotating; and said peripheral land areas being magnetically coupled to a motor stator to enable said rotor to be rotated in a predetermined direction.