Cardio assist system and insertion device therefor

Claim 1

A cardio assist system comprising: a catheter for insertion from one femoral artery into a left ventricle through an aorta, said catheter including a main lumen, a sub-lumen which is sealed at a distal end thereof, and a distal end of said catheter having an open end of said main lumen for retention in said left ventricle; a balloon means gas-tightly attached and surrounding a distal end portion of said catheter to define therebetween a balloon chamber, for inflation and deflation in a descending aorta; a plurality of apertures provided in said distal end portion of said catheter for communication between said balloon chamber and said sub-lumen; a balloon driver means connected to a proximal end of said sub-lumen for supplying a drive gas to and discharging it from said balloon chamber through said sub-lumen and said apertures, said balloon driver means being synchronized with a patient's electrocardiogram or arterial pressure waveform so as to inflate and deflate said balloon means to produce a pulsatile flow; and a blood pump connected in suction to said open end of said main lumen at a proximal end of said main lumen of said catheter; a return line connected to said blood pump for retention in another femoral artery or subclavian artery; said blood pump constituting means for selectively sucking blood from said left ventricle through said main lumen and thereafter pumping said blood through said return line to said another femoral artery or subclavian artery.