Systems and methods for pump-assisted blood circulation

1. A system for assisting a circulation of blood inside a body of a patient, the system comprising:

a pump including an impeller and a diffuser; and

a stator to rotate the impeller relative to the diffuser,

wherein the stator has a C-shape encompassing less than a 360 degree circumference of a longitudinal axis of the pump.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the stator includes an external stator configured to be adhered to or wrapped around the body of the patient.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the external stator is contained in a flexible pad or strap configured to be adhered to or wrapped around the body of the patient.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the pump further includes a shaft,

the impeller is mounted on the shaft,

the impeller includes a hermetically sealed magnet, and

the stator is configured to rotate the hermetically sealed magnet around the shaft to thereby rotate the impeller relative to the diffuser.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a catheter with an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein the upstream portion of the catheter includes a blood flow inlet to deliver blood through the catheter from the blood flow inlet to the pump, and

a pump cable connected to the pump to provide an electrical pathway between the pump and one or more of a sensor or a controller outside the body of the patient.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pump further includes:

a housing having an upstream portion and a downstream portion; and

an inducer positioned in the upstream portion of the housing, the inducer including one or more helically-wound inducer blades to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the pump.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the impeller is positioned downstream of the inducer in the housing.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the diffuser is positioned in the downstream portion of the housing, to direct blood through one or more apertures in a circumference of the housing.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the one or more helically-wound inducer blades rotate to initially accelerate blood in the housing,

the impeller rotates to increase a rotational velocity of the blood imparted by the inducer, and

the diffuser includes two or more curved fins to convert the rotational velocity of the blood imparted by the impeller into an axial velocity through the one or more apertures.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the pump further includes a shaft,

the diffuser is stationary in the housing, and

the diffuser further includes a bearing mount to support the shaft while allowing the shaft to rotate in the diffuser.

11. A system for assisting a circulation of blood inside a body of a patient, the system comprising:

a pump including an impeller and a diffuser;

a housing having an upstream portion and a downstream portion;

an inducer positioned in the upstream portion of the housing, wherein the impeller is positioned downstream of the inducer in the housing; and

an external stator to rotate the impeller relative to the diffuser and along a longitudinal axis of the pump,

wherein the external stator is configured to be adhered to or wrapped around the body of the patient, and

wherein the external stator has a C-shape encompassing less than a 360 degree circumference of the longitudinal axis of the pump.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the external stator is contained in a flexible pad or strap configured to be adhered to or wrapped around the body of the patient.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the pump further includes a shaft,

the impeller is mounted on the shaft,

the impeller include a hermetically sealed magnet, and

the external stator is configured to rotate the hermetically sealed magnet around the shaft to thereby rotate the impeller relative to the diffuser.

14. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

a catheter with an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein the upstream portion of the catheter includes a blood flow inlet to deliver blood through the catheter from the blood flow inlet to the pump, and

a pump cable connected to the pump to provide an electrical pathway between the pump and one or more of a sensor or a controller outside the body of the patient.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein

the inducer includes one or more helically-wound inducer blades to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the pump.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the impeller is positioned downstream of the inducer in the housing.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the diffuser is positioned in the downstream portion of the housing, to direct blood through one or more apertures in a circumference of the housing.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein:

the one or more helically-wound inducer blades rotate to initially accelerate blood in the housing,

the impeller rotates to increase a rotational velocity of the blood imparted by the inducer, and

the diffuser includes two or more curved fins to convert the rotational velocity of the blood imparted by the impeller into an axial velocity through the one or more apertures.

19. A system for assisting a circulation of blood inside a body of a patient, the system comprising:

a pump including an impeller and a diffuser;

a housing having an upstream portion and a downstream portion;

an inducer positioned in the upstream portion of the housing, wherein the impeller is positioned downstream of the inducer in the housing; and

a stator to rotate the impeller relative to the diffuser and along a longitudinal axis of the pump,

wherein the stator is configured to transcutaneously rotate the impeller, and

wherein the stator has a C-shape encompassing less than a 360 degree circumference of the longitudinal axis of the pump.