EP0629412A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Auxiliary artificial heart embedded in a ventricle of a heart
Assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
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Filing: 1994-04-15
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-04-15
Abstract
Abstract An artificial heart has a driving section (5) and a pump section (4), and a sealing section (31) forming a seal for a driving shaft extending from the driving section (5) for driving the pump section (4). A sealing liquid chamber (30) filled with a sealing liquid is formed around the driving shaft (26) between the sealing mechanism (31) and the driving section (5). The sealing liquid in the sealing liquid chamber (30) maintains the sealing mechanism (31) in a liquid-tight state and lubricates the sealing mechanism (31), whereby blood is prevented from entering the driving section (5). Even if blood happens to enter the sealing liquid chamber (30), the blood is mixed with the sealing liquid and does not coagulate. Thus, the operation of the artificial heart is not suppressed.
Inventors
- 👤 Kenji Yamazaki
- 👤 Toshio Mori
- 👤 Haruo Iiyama
- 👤 Shunichi Yamazaki
- 👤 Nobutaka Ito
- 👤 Osami Miyao
- 👤 Masanori Hori
- 👤 Yukio Iwasaki
- 👤 Hitoshi Adachi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 00:57
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61M; A61M60/00; A61M60/80; A61M60/802; A61M60/827; A61M60/829; A61M60/10; A61M60/122; A61M60/165; A61M60/17; A61M60/174; A61M60/20; A61M60/205; A61M60/216; A61M60/237; A61M60/40; A61M60/403; A61M60/408; A61M60/411; A61M60/416; A61M60/81; A61M60/812; A61M60/818; A61M60/825; A61M60/855; A61M60/871; A61M60/873; A61M60/126; A61M60/148; A61M60/824
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
131 words
An artificial heart including a main body of said artificial heart characterized by comprising: (a) a cylindrical pump section (4); (b) a driving section (5) having a driving shaft (26) and provided on said proximal end of said pump section (4) for driving said pump via said driving shaft, said driving shaft (26) having an outer peripheral surface; (c) a sealing mechanism (31) provided between said driving section (5) and said pump section (4), for maintaining said driving shaft (26) in a liquid tight state and preventing blood from entering said driving section (5) from said pump section (4); and (d) a sealing liquid chamber (30) surrounding said driving shaft (26) between said sealing mechanism (31) and said driving section (5), said sealing liquid chamber being filled with a sealing liquid.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
60 words
The artificial heat according to claim 1, characterized in that said sealing mechanism (31) has an oil seal (41) made of elastic material closely fitted on said outer peripheral surface of said driving shaft (26) and formed with a lubricating film of said sealing liquid between said oil seal (41) and said outer peripheral surface of said driving shaft (26).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
The artificial heart according to claim 2, characterized in that said outer peripheral surface of said driving shaft (26) is covered with a coating film comprising plated metal and fine particles made of tetrafluoroethylene and derivatives thereof distributed in said plated metal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
45 words
The artificial heart according to claim 1, characterized in that the surfaces of components which contact blood and/or other body fluids is covered with a coating film (58) comprising plated metal and fine particles (57) of tetrafluoroethylene and derivatives thereof distributed in said plated metal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
The artificial heart according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising a sealing liquid bag (12) made of flexible material, filled with said sealing liquid and embedded in said human body, said sealing liquid chamber (30) being connected to said sealing liquid bag (12).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
96 words
The artificial heart according to claim 1, characterized in that said driving section (5) is provided with a dynamic-pressure seal bearing (35, 36) for supporting said driving shaft (26) and delivering said sealing liquid toward said sealing liquid chamber (30) by a dynamic pressure generated by rotation of said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (35, 36) so as to maintain said driving section (5) in a liquid tight state, said sealing liquid chamber (30) is formed between said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (35, 36) and said sealing mechanism (31), and said driving section (15) is filled with a gas.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
The artificial heart according to claim 6, characterized in that said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (35, 36) is made of ceramic material.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
70 words
The artificial heart according to claim 6, characterized in that said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (35, 36) comprises a rotary-side unit (36) and a fixed-side unit (35), each having a cylindrical portion (36a, 35a) for receiving radial load and a flange portion (36b, 35b) for receiving thrust load, and dynamic-pressure generating grooves (51, 52) are formed in the cylindrical and flange portions (36a, 36b) of at least said rotary-side unit (36).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
52 words
The artificial heart according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising a dynamic-pressure seal bearing (28) at a distal end of said driving shaft (26), said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (28) functioning as micropump for supplying the sealing liquid from said sealing liquid chamber (30) to said sealing mechanism (31) in small amounts.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The artificial heart according to claim 9, characterized in that said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (28) is made of ceramic material.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
50 words
The artificial heart according to claim 9, characterized in that said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (28) comprises a cylindrical portion (28a) for receiving radial load, and dynamic-pressure generating grooves (70, 71, 74, 75) are formed in an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion (28a) of said dynamic-pressure seal bearing (28).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
The artificial heart according to claim 1, characterized in that said driving section (5) has an interior filled with said sealing liquid, and said sealing liquid chamber (30) extends to said interior of said driving section.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
65 words
The artificial heart according to claim 12, characterized by further comprising a sealing liquid bag (12) made of flexible material and filled with said sealing liquid, said sealing liquid chamber (30) communicating with said sealing liquid bag (12) through a plurality of pipes (81) so as to cause said sealing liquid to circulate through said sealing liquid chamber (30) and said sealing liquid bag (12).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The artificial heart according to claim 13, characterized by further comprising vane projections (85) formed adjacent to said sealing mechanism (31) on said outer peripheral surface of said driving shaft (26), for agitating said sealing liquid therearound.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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