Importance

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Abstract

The invention is a disposable, positive-displacement piston pump, having a polycarbonate body, a piston, an inlet valve, and an outlet valve. The outlet valve is connected to an exit chamber, which is separated from the exit valve by an elastomeric membrane. The elastomeric membrane encloses an accumulation chamber which is filled with a fluid such as air under atmospheric pressure. Pulsations in outlet pressure caused by stroking of the piston are dampened by the flexing action of the elastomeric membrane, compressing the fluid within the accumulator chamber. The throw out of the pump is pressure-dampened and is of sufficient pressure to flow through very low-profile angioplasty catheters having perfusion lumens extending therethrough. The combination of the pump with a very low-profile balloon angioplasty catheter allows access of the catheter to a constricted passage with the ability to pump a sufficient volume of blood through such a low-profile catheter during balloon inflations.

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First Claim