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Published on: August 5, 2015
Application of a magnetic fluid seal to rotary blood pumps
Y Mitamura1, S Arioka, D Sakota
1Department of Biomedical Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0814, Japan.
Abstract:
A magnetic fluid seal enables mechanical contact-free rotation of a shaft without frictional heat and material wear and hence has excellent durability. However, the durability of a magnetic fluid seal decreases in liquid. The life of a seal applied to a rotary blood pump is not known. We have developed a magnetic fluid seal that has a shield mechanism minimizing the influence of the rotary pump on the magnetic fluid. The developed magnetic fluid seal worked for over 286 days in a continuous flow condition, for 24 days (on-going) in a pulsatile flow condition and for 24 h (electively terminated) in blood flow. The magnetic fluid seal is promising as a shaft seal for rotary blood pumps.
