Physiological Demand Responsive Control System

Abstract

A demand responsive physiological control system for use with a rotary blood pump; said system including a pump controller which is capable of controlling pump speed of said pump; said system further including a physiological controller, and wherein said physiological controller is adapted to analyze input data relating to physiological condition of a user of said pump; and wherein said physiological controller determines appropriate pumping speed and sends a speed control signal to said pump controller to adjust pump speed; said system further including a physiological state detector which provides said input data indicative of at least one physiological state of said user, in use, to said physiological controller.

1 - 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . A controller for use with a blood pump, comprising:
 a pump controller configured for sending a pump speed signal to the pump for controlling the pump speed;   a physiological controller for detecting a user's activity level based on a signal received from an accelerometer; and   the controller being further configured for detecting a pumping state and the user's heart rate based on signals received from the pump;   wherein the pump speed signal is derived from the detected pumping state and the user's heart rate and activity level.   
     
     
         32 . The controller of  claim 31 , wherein the accelerometer is mounted in the controller. 
     
     
         33 . The controller of  claim 31 , wherein the controller is configured for deriving the user's heart rate based on an instantaneous impeller speed of the pump. 
     
     
         34 . The controller of  claim 31 , wherein the pump speed signal is derived from the detected heart rate and activity level unless the detected pumping state indicates that a Total Ventricular Collapse (TVC) or a Partial Ventricular Collapse (PVC) pumping state exists. 
     
     
         35 . The controller of  claim 31 , wherein the controller is configured for detecting the pumping state based on input power to the pump and pump speed. 
     
     
         36 . The controller of  claim 35 , wherein the controller is configured for detecting at least one of a total ventricular collapse, pump regurgitation and partial ventricular collapse pumping states. 
     
     
         37 . The controller of  claim 35 , wherein the controller is configured for detecting a flow rate of the pump based on input power to the pump. 
     
     
         38 . A controller for use with a blood pump, comprising:
 a pump controller capable of controlling pump speed;   an accelerometer mounted in the controller; and   the controller further including a physiological controller adapted to detect physical motion of the user based on signals received from the accelerometer and generate a signal for the pump controller to adjust pump speed according to the detected physical motion;   wherein the signal for the pump controller is based on signals received from the accelerometer and integrated over time to detect a continuous physical motion of the user.   
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the detected physical motion is based on both accelerometer signals and a detected heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the controller is configured for selecting a pumping speed from a predetermined range of pumping speeds according to the detected physical motion. 
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the controller further includes a conditioning circuit for identifying a physiological demand state representative of the physiological state of the user based on the signals received from the accelerometer, wherein the pumping speed is selected according to the identified physiological demand state of the user. 
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the signal is generated from the detected physical motion, pump power and instantaneous pump speed. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 42 , wherein the controller includes an algorithm for predicting blood flow rate, heart rate, flow profile, pulsatility and physiological demand based on the detected physical motion, pump power and instantaneous pump speed, and wherein the algorithm produces a preferred pump speed which is used to generate the signal for the pump controller. 
     
     
         44 . A controller for use with a blood pump, comprising:
 a pump controller capable of controlling pump speed; and   the controller being configured for generating a speed control signal for the pump controller based on a detected physiological state of the user and pumping state of the pump;   wherein the physiological state is detected from data received from a non-invasive sensor; and   wherein the pumping state is detected from signals received from the pump.   
     
     
         45 . The controller of  claim 44 , wherein the controller includes an alarm which is activated when the detected pumping state indicates that a physiologically critical pumping state exists. 
     
     
         46 . The controller of  claim 45 , wherein the physiologically critical pumping state is a Total Ventricular Collapse (TVC) or a Partial Ventricular Collapse (PVC). 
     
     
         47 . The controller of  claim 44 , wherein the non-invasive sensor is an accelerometer. 
     
     
         48 . The controller of  claim 44 , wherein the pumping state is detected from a pump impeller speed signal and an input power to the pump. 
     
     
         49 . The controller of  claim 48 , wherein the pump impeller speed signal and input power to the pump is used by the controller in a feedback loop to reduce pump speed when a physiologically critical pumping state is detected. 
     
     
         50 . The controller of  claim 44 , wherein the physiological state is detected from data received from an accelerometer and a detected heart rate. 
     
     
         51 . The controller of  claim 44 , wherein the detected pumping state is one of a Total Ventricular Collapse (TVC), Partial Ventricular Collapse (PVC), Ventricle Ejecting (VE), Aortic Valve Closed (AC) or Pump Regurgitation (PR).