Faculty Advisor: Dr. John Valdovinos
Project Description:
Intravascular blood pumps have been successfully used in cases of acute myocardial infarctions. These devices provide partial circulatory support for patients until they recover. Intravascular blood pumps, which are deployed via cardiac catheterization, have the potential to be used as long-term devices if power could be delivered wirelessly to the pump motor. In this senior design, we describe the design, fabrication, and testing of a wireless powering system that utilizes near-field resonant coupling of four coils to power an intravascular pump. Our team has designed the transmitter, external resonator, internal resonator, and internal receiver to provide DC power to a pump motor and microcontroller. The system also includes a catheter-sized pump controller to be implanted in the left ventricle. The system was tested on a benchtop mockup that includes the various layers of tissues and simulates relevant distances and coil orientations.