Heart Pump Assist Device
More than 100,000 patients undergo artery-clearing angioplasty annually, but many remain at high risk of serious complications because of their problems with pumping blood.
The Reitan catheter pump from Cardiobridge allows patients with weak hearts to have an artery unblocked without the risk of kidney failure or cardiac arrest. The pump, which is currently undergoing clinical trials, is inserted in a tube via the femoral artery and manoeuvred up to the aorta, where it folds out to form a plastic cage encasing two stainless steel propeller blades of about 8mm in length.
Once switched on the device rotates at up to 12,000 rpm, enhancing the pumping action of the heart by drawing blood down from the aorta to the arteries. This keeps vital organs, such as the kidneys, working as the patient undergoes angioplasty.
The cage that surrounds the rotating device and the tubing has been coated with CHS™ to keep the blood around it from forming clots, a thing that could be devastating to the patient.
