Patent ID: 7976452

Claim:
A long-term ambulatory intra-aortic balloon pump system for providing left ventricular cardiac assistance to a patient comprising: an external drive system for supplying a compressed fluid, the drive system operating in accordance with a control program stored in memory; an intra-luminal balloon pump having an elongate inflatable chamber positionable to be lying completely within a descending aorta of the patient; and a percutaneous access device for connecting in fluid communication the intra-luminal balloon pump with the compressed fluid to be supplied by the external drive system, wherein the elongate inflatable chamber is inflated and deflated synchronously with a heartbeat of the patient in accordance with the control program stored in memory of the external drive system, wherein the percutaneous access device is a biocompatible implantable portal comprising a communicative passage through an interior bore and an exterior having a neck region adapted to promote autologous cell growth thereon in an implantable region, the neck region having a plurality of channels extending about the neck region.