Heart pump

1. A heart pump including:

a) a housing forming a cavity including:

i) at least one inlet aligned with an axis of the cavity; and

ii) at least one outlet provided in a circumferential outer wall of the cavity;

b) an impeller provided within the cavity, the impeller including a disc-shaped rotor that rotates about an axis of rotation, the disc-shaped rotor having a face substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation and having vanes that extend from the face in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation and that include a vane height in the axial direction of at least 10 mm and less than 30 mm, and wherein the vanes extend radially from an inner diameter of at least 10 mm so that fluid flowing through the inlet into a region radially inwardly of the vanes is urged radially outwardly to the outlet by the vanes; and

c) a drive for rotating the impeller in the cavity.

2. A pump according to claim 1 , wherein the pump generates a pressure head that is one of:

a) between 60 mmHg and 100 mmHg at 6 LPM; or

b) between 10 mmHg and 30 mmHg at 6 LPM.

3. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein:

a) the housing includes:

i) a first cavity portion having a first inlet aligned with an axis of the first cavity portion and a first outlet provided in a circumferential outer wall of the first cavity portion; and

ii) a second cavity portion having a second inlet aligned with an axis of the second cavity portion and a second outlet provided in a circumferential outer wall of the second cavity portion, the vanes that extend from the face of the rotor being provided within the second cavity portion; and

b) the impeller includes:

i) a first set of vanes being provided within the first cavity portion so as to define a first pump, wherein the first set of vanes extend from a first face of the rotor in a first axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation and include at least one of:

(1) a vane height in the first axial direction of at least 1.5 mm and less than 5 mm;

(2) a vane inlet angle of between 60° and 90°; or

(3) a vane outlet angle of less than 90° and greater than 200, and

ii) a second set of vanes being defined by the vanes of the second cavity portion so as to define a second pump, wherein the second set of vanes extend from a second face of the rotor in a second axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation.

4. A heart pump according to claim 3 , wherein the pump includes a magnetic bearing including bearing coils and a controller adapted to monitor signals from a position sensor and control a current supplied to the bearing coils to control an axial position of the impeller within the cavity and wherein a change in an axial position of the impeller within the cavity controls in part a flow of fluid from the first inlet to the first outlet, and wherein a change in axial position of 200 μm causes at least one of:

a) a change in flow rate of at least 1 LPM and less than 4 LPM; or

b) a change in flow pressure of at least 5 mmHg.

5. A heart pump according to claim 3 , wherein the first outlet at least one of:

a) has a throat area of between 60 mm 2 and 250 mm 2 ;

b) has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape and a width to height aspect ratio of between 1:2 and 2:1; or

c) defines a cutwater angle of between 0° and 70°.

6. A heart pump according to claim 3 , wherein the first set of vanes of the impeller includes a number of primary vanes and a number of secondary vanes, the secondary vanes are smaller than the primary vanes, and at least one of:

a) the primary vanes have at least one of:

i) an inner diameter of at least 10 mm and less than 40 mm; or

ii) an outer thickness of at least 5 mm and less than 20 mm;

b) the secondary vanes have an inner diameter of at least 20 mm and less than 40 mm;

c) the primary and secondary vanes have an outer vane diameter of at least 20 mm and less than 60 mm;

d) there are an equal number of primary and secondary vanes; or

e) there are at least three and less than six of each of the primary and secondary vanes.

7. A heart pump according to claim 3 , wherein in a region of an outlet volute of the first outlet the cavity has at least one of:

a) a base circle diameter of at least 40 mm and less than 100 mm; or

b) an outer wall diameter of at least 50 mm and less than 100 mm.

8. A heart pump according to claim 7 , wherein over a defined flow range the volute generates a maximum radial force of less than 1.2 N, and wherein the defined flow range is at least 5 LPM to 8 LPM.

9. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein the pump includes a magnetic bearing including bearing coils and a controller adapted to monitor signals from a position sensor and control a current supplied to the bearing coils to control an axial position of the impeller within the cavity and wherein a change in the axial position of the impeller within the cavity changes a flow of fluid from the inlet to the outlet, and wherein a change in axial position of 200 μm causes at least one of:

a) a change in flow rate of at least 0.2 LPM and less than 2 LPM; or

b) a change in flow pressure of at least 1 mmHg.

10. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein the outlet at least one of:

a) has a throat area of at least 100 mm 2 and less than 250 mm 2 ;

b) has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape and a width to height aspect ratio of between 1:3 and 1:1; or

c) defines a cutwater angle that is between 0° and 180°.

11. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein the impeller has at least one of:

a) a vane inlet angle of greater than 60° and less than 115°; or

b) a vane outlet angle of at least 60° and less than 115°.

12. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein the impeller includes a number of primary vanes and a number of secondary vanes, the secondary vanes are smaller than the primary vanes, and at least one of:

a) the primary vanes have at least one of:

i) an inner diameter of at least 10 mm and less than 25 mm; or

ii) a thickness of at least 0.5 mm and less than 3.0 mm;

b) the secondary vanes have an inner diameter of at least 10 mm and less than 25 mm;

c) the primary and secondary vanes have an outer vane diameter of at least 15 mm and less than 40 mm;

d) there are an equal number of primary and secondary vanes;

e) there are between three and five primary vanes; or

f) there are between three and six secondary vanes.

13. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of:

a) the inlet has a diameter of at least 10 mm and less than 30 mm; or

b) the cavity has a diameter of at least 20 mm and less than 40 mm.

14. A heart pump according to claim 1 , wherein the rotor has at least one of:

a) a height in an axial direction of at least 5 mm and less than 15 mm; or

b) an outer circumferential wall spaced from an inner cavity wall by an average distance of at least 2 mm and less than 8 mm.