A Mini-Centrifugal Blood Pump Using 2-DOF Controlled Magnetic Bearing

A mini-centrifugal blood pump (CBP) employing a two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) controlled MB has been developed as a ventricular assist device. In this pump, a magnetically suspended impeller is driven by an internal brushless DC motor. The developed maglev CBP (55 mm in diameter, 25 mm in height, 59 ml in total volume and 16 ml in priming volume) is more compact than conventional maglev CBPs (cf. one third of the total volume of ‘DuraHeart’) and it offers the necessary pump performance to provide implantable cardiac assistance to adults.