Development of pulsating artificial heart with magnetic flux convergent arrangement

Abstract

To date, the majority of artificial hearts have been nonpulsatile types. Natural hearts, however, are pulsatile, and the long-term biocompatibility of the nonpulsatile types has not been confirmed. We set out to develop a magnetic pump with a pulsatile flow. Because it is pulsatile, we were able to make this pump as small and compact as a natural heart. It consists of a motor, a bellows, and a permanent magnet. The pulsatile flow artificial heart relies on magnetic force. To determine the basic characteristics of the pump, we measured the flow, pressure and magnetic force. We describe the structure of the pump, it's manufacturing method, and it's principle of operation. The use of the bellows allows us to realize a structure where the fluid chambers and drive are separate. When the pump pulsated at 0.6 (Hz), the rate of flow was 0.618 (l/min). The differential pressure between inflow and outflow was 3.5 (kPa). The magnetic attractive force was 243.4 (N) and the magnetic repulsive force was 67.3 (N). We confirmed that the pump was able to pump water by pulsating steadily.