Technologies
Levacor VAD™
How it Works
Other Levacor Innovations
The Levacor VAD™ is optimized for anatomic fit in its selected anatomic location with its flat, pancake-like shape, which creates a low profile (and a 38 mm thickness) in the anterior-posterior dimension (which is critical to anatomic fit). This low profile will allow it to be implanted in adolescents and small women as well. The low profile is enabled by a unique and proprietary flat inlet design.
Traditionally, centrifugal pumps have required an inlet that comes in physically at right angles into the center of the pump and as a result aligns the flow geometrically into the pump inlet. For the Levacor VAD, our designers and engineers have taken advantage of modern design tools such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to create a proprietary and patented inlet that is physically flat, but still provides flow geometrically at a right angle to the pump inlet.
The other size-wise innovation embodied in the Levacor VAD is the use of a flat, pancake-shaped brushless DC motor that is fully integrated into the pump, yet is run separately from the magnetic levitation. This proprietary technology requires no additional mechanical bearings, even outside the blood flow path, and provides an integrated and compact pump package. A cross-section schematic of the Levacor VAD™ is shown below.
Responsiveness to Patient Needs
While the first generation axial flow rotary pumps have potentially the smallest size, the pressure/flow characteristics of a centrifugal pump are well suited to the requirements of mechanical circulatory support. Even with the impeller spinning at a constant speed, the flow through the Levacor VAD varies with the difference between the upstream and downstream pressures. Thus the flow generated by the pump varies with the contraction of the native heart.