Development of a New Centrifugal Pump for Long-term Cardiac Assistance
摘要
In conventional centrifugal pumps, a major limitation is the friction in the shaft which reduces its long-term use and results in the degeneration of blood. To overcome such problems, we have developed a new centrifugal pump: a ‘magnetically-suspended centrifugal pump (MSCP)’, which has no shaft and operates as a non-contacting and bearingless pump. The impeller is suspended magnetically between the magnetic bearing and driving motor. The free impeller in the MSCP rotates by magnetic coupling with the driving motor. The power required to magnetically suspend the impeller is about 5W.