Hydrodynamic thrust bearings for rotary blood pump

1. A rotary blood pump comprising:

a pumping chamber in fluid communication with a primary fluid flow path;

an impeller rotatable on an axis within the pumping chamber and having a plurality of upper surface areas circumferentially disposed about the axis, each upper surface area facing an interior wall of the pumping chamber as the impeller rotates, each of at least a diametrically opposed pair of the upper surface areas being configured with an inclined surface area tapered in an upward axial direction and defining a hydrodynamic bearing surface having a lower pressure fluid entrance end and a higher pressure fluid exit end causing an increase in pressure acting axially downwardly on the impeller as the impeller rotates; and

each of the plurality of upper surface areas further including a pressure relief surface downstream of the higher pressure fluid exit, the pressure relief surface being configured to lower the hydrodynamic pressure from the high pressure fluid exit to form a lower pressure fluid exit end and to define a secondary fluid flow path to impel fluid into an adjacent upper surface area as the impeller rotates, the higher pressure entrance end of the downstream pressure relief surface being spaced from the higher pressure fluid exit end of the hydrodynamic bearing surface by a flat bridging surface area of the same respective upper surface area therebetween, the lower pressure fluid exit end and the lower pressure fluid entrance end of adjacent ones of the upper surface areas engaging axially directed spaced apart sidewalls having unequal surface areas, the sidewalls defining fluid flow channels therebetween.

2. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 in which an angle of inclination of each hydrodynamic bearing surface is less than one degree relative to the horizontal.

3. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 in which the flat bridging surface is about 0.050 inches wide at its narrowest point with a tolerance of ±0.028 inches.

4. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 in which an angle of taper of each pressure relief surface is more severe than the angle of inclination of each hydrodynamic bearing surface.

5. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 in which each of the upper surface areas defines a hydrodynamic bearing surface and an associated pressure relief surface.

6. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 in which each upper surface area is formed on one of a plurality of raised bodies, a selected portion of one or more of which is configured for magnetization.

7. The rotary blood pump of claim 1 comprising a one-piece ferromagnetic impeller made from an alloy of approximately 77.6% platinum by weight and 22.4% cobalt by weight.

8. The rotary blood pump of claim 6 in which each raised body is configured with two straight sidewalls of unequal length which intersect at approximately 90°.

9. The rotary blood pump of claim 8 in which the longer side wall faces the shorter side wall of an adjacent raised body across a respective secondary fluid flow path therebetween.

10. The rotary blood pump of claim 6 in which each hydrodynamic bearing surface comprises an inwardly facing and downwardly tapered concave inner wall section of a raised body.

11. The rotary blood pump of claim 10 in which an angle drop for each such downwardly tapered concave inner wall section is about 0.012 inches and an angle of downward taper thereof is about 8°.

12. The rotary blood pump of claim 6 in which a cavity in each raised body is fitted with a permanent magnet, the permanent magnets being approximately 90° apart at a periphery of the impeller with solid wall members therebetween.