PHYSIOLOGICALLY COMPATIBLE CARDIAC ASSIST DEVICE AND METHOD

摘要

A physiologically compatible cardiac assist device has a pump (20) which draws blood through a first catheter (30) inserted into either the right atrium (2), the left atrium (4) or the left ventricle (8) and infuses the blood via a second catheter (32) into the aorta during disatole. Attached to the second catheter is a balloon (24) that is also inflated during diastole. The synchronized volume infusion and balloon inflation in this counter-pulsation mode reduces after load and is thus more physiologically compatible.