Abstract:The valvo‐pump, an axial nonpulsatile blood pump implanted at the heart valve position, has been developed. The valvo‐pump consists of an impeller and a motor, which are encased in a housing. An impeller with 5 vanes (22.0 mm in diameter) is used. The impeller is connected to a samarium‐cobalt‐rare earth magnet direct current (DC) brushless motor measuring 21.3 mm in diameter and 18.5 mm in length. Sealing is achieved by means of a ferrofluidic seal. A pump flow of 10.5 Limin was obtained at a pump differential pressure of 3.3 kPa (25 mm Hg), and a flow of 4.9 L/min was obtained at 7.0 kPa (53 mm Hg). Sealing was kept perfect against a pressure of 29.3 kPa (220 mm Hg) at 9,
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