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US-20260126049-A1 - ROTOR FOR A FLUID PUMP AND METHOD AND MOLD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF

US20260126049A1US 20260126049 A1US20260126049 A1US 20260126049A1US-20260126049-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a rotor for a compressible fluid pump, in particular a blood pump that can be introduced through a blood vessel into a patient's body, wherein said rotor comprises one or more conveying elements ( 15 ), is compressible and expandable between a first compressed state and a second radially expanded state, is made at least partially from a plastic reinforced with reinforcing elements, in particular fibers ( 10 , 11 , 13 , 18 , 19 , 55 , 56 , 62, 63 ) and is provided for rotation about an axis of rotation ( 14 ). According to the invention, the rotor is tensioned in the first, compressed state and free from external stresses in the second, expanded state. A third state exists, which the rotor ( 42 ) occupies in the operating state under load. The reinforcing elements, in particular fibers, extend in the rotor in the third state at least in sections in a stretched manner.

Inventors

  • Thorsten Siess
  • Mario Scheckel

Assignees

  • ECP ENTWICKLUNGSGESELLSCHAFT MBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251103
Priority Date
20150430

Claims (18)

  1. 1 .- 30 . (canceled)
  2. 31 . An intravascular blood pump comprising: a catheter having a proximal end and a distal end; a rotor disposed at the distal end of the catheter and comprising one or more impeller elements; and a pump housing surrounding the rotor, wherein the rotor is configured to be radially compressed and expanded between a compressed state and an expanded state, the rotor further comprising, at least in part, a plastic material reinforced by reinforcement elements, wherein the rotor is intended to rotate about an axis of rotation, and wherein the rotor is tensioned in the compressed state and is free from external stresses in the expanded state, and wherein an operating state exists, which the rotor assumes while operating under load.
  3. 32 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the intravascular blood pump is configured to be radially compressible.
  4. 33 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the pump housing is configured to be radially compressible.
  5. 34 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the reinforcement elements in the rotor in the operating state run in a stretched manner, at least sectionally.
  6. 35 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 34 , wherein, in the operating state, at least some of the reinforcement elements, run sectionally straight.
  7. 36 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein, in the operating state, at least some of the reinforcement elements, run along a longitudinal direction of the one or more impeller elements with a smaller curvature than neutral fibers of the one or more impeller elements.
  8. 37 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein a proportion of the reinforcement elements in the expanded state of the rotor runs transversely to the reinforcement elements of a first proportion.
  9. 38 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the reinforcement elements are at least in part fabric portions with fibers running longitudinally and transversely.
  10. 39 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the reinforcement elements are film strips, wherein a length of the film strips is at least three times greater than a width of the film strips.
  11. 40 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the reinforcement elements in the operating state of the rotor run in a stretched manner at least in part in regions of the rotor which experience an elongation stress and run substantially a direction of the elongation stress.
  12. 41 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 40 , wherein more than half of the reinforcement elements are arranged in regions of the rotor which experience the elongation stress in the operating state.
  13. 42 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein there are substantially no differences between the expanded state and the operating state in respect of outer form.
  14. 43 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein the reinforcement elements extend beyond the axis of rotation in a radial direction.
  15. 44 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein a surface of the reinforcement elements having an adhesion promoter.
  16. 45 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein in the expanded state of the rotor with a fluid counter-pressure at least a portion of the reinforcement elements run in a stretched and straight manner in at least one region of an impeller element of the one or more impeller elements, wherein the impeller element is curved.
  17. 46 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 45 , wherein in a curved region of the impeller element of the one or more impeller elements, at least two portions of the reinforcement elements run in a stretched and straight manner, wherein directions in which the reinforcement elements of the at least two portions run are parallel within the same portion of the at least two portions, but are different between the at least two portions.
  18. 47 . The intravascular blood pump of claim 31 , wherein in the operating state, with a fluid counter-pressure, at least a portion of the reinforcement elements runs in a stretched and straight manner in at least one region of an impeller element of the one or more impeller elements, wherein said impeller element is curved.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/008,873, filed Sep. 1, 2020, now allowed, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/570,128, filed Oct. 27, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,801,511, which is a United States National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP 2016/059708, filed on Apr. 29, 2016, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application Nos. 15166042.0, filed Apr. 30, 2015 and 15166045.3 filed Apr. 30, 2015, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. International Application No. PCT/EP 2016/059708 was published under PCT Article 21(2) in German. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present patent application lies in the field of mechanics and relates specifically to rotors for fluid pumps. It can be used particularly advantageously in the field of medical engineering with respect to catheter pumps. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the field of fluid pumps, rotor pumps are already known in various embodiments in the form of axial pumps or radial pumps. In both cases, the fluid to be conveyed is accelerated, either in the axial direction or in the radial direction, by a rotation of a rotor and impeller elements secured to said rotor. Pumps of this type can also be compressed already in accordance with the prior art so as to arrange or transport them in a space-saving manner. This applies in particular to catheter pumps for medical application, which often can be radially compressed and expanded so as to be able to be transported to the site of application through a catheter or through cavities in the body of a patient and then expanded at the site of application, before being set in operation. Such pumps are used for example to assist a patient's heart in the pumping of blood, and for this purpose are advanced through a blood vessel as far as, or into a chamber of the heart. In this case, particular challenges are posed by the small size of the rotor and additionally the compressibility thereof. In the expanded state, in spite of its compressibility, the rotor must reproducibly assume an operating form that changes as little as possible, even in the event of operation at maximum rotational conveying speeds, in order to prevent a reduction in efficiency and also damage to the blood constituents to be conveyed. For this reason, the use of a wide range of materials and material combinations has already been considered and examined for the aforementioned purpose. By way of example, the use of a wide range of elastomers, also in conjunction with a fiber reinforcement, is already known from WO 2010/063494 A1. WO 2012/007141 A1 discloses a reinforcement of a pump rotor by fibers, which can be arranged in the rotor in oriented form, for example in the radial direction. Lastly, WO 2012/007140 A1 discloses a pump rotor with reinforcement elements which can be provided substantially outside the impeller elements, for example on surfaces thereof. Against the background of the prior art, the object of the present invention thus lies in creating a plastic rotor of the above-mentioned type which has a minimal relaxation after deformations between the compressed and the expanded state as well as the most accurate possible reproducibility of its geometry, at least in the operating state. The object is achieved by a rotor, a method for producing a rotor, and a corresponding mold for a rotor. This results, inter alia, in a rotor for a compressible fluid pump, in particular a blood pump which can be introduced through a blood vessel into a patient's body, which rotor has one or more impeller elements and can be radially compressed and expanded between a first, compressed state and a second, radially expanded state, and consists at least in part of a plastic reinforced by strand-like reinforcement elements, in particular fibers, and is intended to rotate about an axis of rotation, wherein the rotor is tensioned in the first, compressed state and is free from external stresses in the second, expanded state, and wherein a third state exists, which the rotor assumes in the operating state under load, characterized in that the fibers in the rotor in the third state run in a stretched manner, at least sectionally. Fluid pumps of this type are usually introduced in the compressed state into a blood vessel, for example an artery, through a port and are advanced until in the vicinity of the heart or partially within a patient's heart so as to be expanded there. The invention, however, is not limited to blood pumps of this type, and instead also comprises other types of blood pumps having compressible and expandable rotors or other fluid pumps which can be introduced into systems of cavities for medical or non-medical purposes. In the compressed state, the rotor of such a pump is usually under a radial compressive stress, for example by being constricted by an