An electromagnetic pneumatic blood pump driver.

An electromagnetic pneumatic pump driver has been developed with the goals of enhanced mechanical reliability and simplicity of operation. The new driver eliminates failure prone components such as solenoid valves or pressure regulators common to conventional pneumatic drive systems, has only a single moving part, and provides for closed-loop operation in which stroke volume and dP/dT are controlled on each beat in real time. Power is provided by a high force (178 N) electromagnetic linear actuator. This assembly uses a high energy density neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnet, low loss vanadium alloy pole pieces, and an energized moving coil. The nominal stroke length of the actuator is 1.7 cm. During operation, the moving coil always remains within a fixed annular air gap, resulting in a measured force output versus applied power linearity of better than 92% over its stroke range. The coil is directly attached to the free end of a 10 cm diameter, 21 convolution, welded titanium metal bellows that forms the gas containing element of the system. The comparatively low pressure gradients across the bellows in this application result in a predicted life for the bellows in excess of 10(9) cycles. Bellows position and internal pressure are monitored continuously to control the pneumatic output. The linear actuator total excursion and velocity are adjusted on each beat using a closed-loop servo system. This results in a pump driver with no operator required adjustment of drive pressure. Instead, there are user selected settings of stroke volume, operating mode, and fill sensitivity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)