Development of power sources for blood pump applications

During early development efforts in the field of cardiac assist and replacement systems (KUE) it became evident, that the growing number of technological problems cannot be solved by a single university research team. Hence, an interdisciplinary project team was established as suggested by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT). The joint efforts of a medical-technical team are described. The extent of animal testing is summarized. Emphasis is placed on the development status of two implantable power sources, a thermal converter and an electro-hydraulic converter