Pumping and heat exchange system

摘要

A pumping system wherein liquid is required to be heated to a certain temperature and supplied as a pulsed flow of variable stroke volume and frequency. The pumping system is of special use for pumping blood in heart assist systems. A second liquid is used for the heat exchange and for imparting the pulsed flow. Chambers (13, 23) and a heat exchanger (16) therebetween are filled with the second liquid which is warmed by a heating element (24). Pulses are applied to the second liquid by a liquid column (28) acting via a membrane (26) to cause flow to-and-fro between the chambers (13, 23) under the control of valves (18, 22). The second liquid entering and leaving the chamber (23) acts on a second membrane (14), the movement of the latter pumping the first liquid around a circuit (12, 29-36) including the heat exchanger (16).