ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,544,559, issued on Feb. 10, was assigned to ABIOMED INC. (Danvers, Mass.).
"Heart pump with passive purge system" was invented by Vincent Barry (Danvers, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A heart pump assembly includes an elongate catheter with a proximal portion and a distal portion, a rotor at the distal portion of the elongate catheter, a driveshaft, and a bearing. The rotor can include an impeller blade shaped to induce fluid flow in a first axial direction. The drive shaft may be coupled to or integrally formed with a proximal end of the rotor and can include a pump element formed in a surface of the drive shaft. The bearing can ...