Wave Membrane
At the core of the CorWave products, CorWave LVAD and Nemo, is a disruptive and patented technology: the wave membrane pump invented by Jean-Baptiste Drevet. The membrane is the result of more than twenty years of research and development, and is capable of mimicking the native heart. This disruptive technology radically differentiates CorWave products from commercially-available rotary pump LVADs, and allows CorWave LVAD and Nemo to provide unique physiological blood flow.
A Breakthrough Technology
The wave membrane is a biomimetic technology inspired by the undulating movement of marine animals. This movement provides an efficient way for the animals to move fluid, propelling them through water. In CorWave pumps, a polymer membrane reproduces a similar, though reversed, interaction: the membrane is fixed, and the fluid (blood) is propelled.
CorWave wave membrane technology: the membrane is activated by an actuator (here, on the left) and fluid circulates from left to right.
After more than twenty years of research, this technology is protected by several patent families.
One Membrane, Two Geometries
The wave motion can be produced with different membrane geometries, specifically, a discoidal shape and a rectangular shape. Both CorWave wave-membrane pumps are driven by an electromagnetic actuator, which generates the oscillations of the polymer membrane and translates the propagation of the wave along the membrane (like a sound-speaker), and the propulsion of blood
A Discoidal Membrane For CorWave LVAD
The wave generated on this membrane moves from the outside to the inside of the disc, radially, propelling blood towards the central orifice.
A Rectangular Membrane For Nemo
The wave generated on this membrane moves from the left to the right of the rectangle, axially, propelling blood in only one direction.
Wave Membrane Technology For Physiological Cardiac Support
The cardiac pumps developed by CorWave are based on wave membrane technology, capable of reproducing the physiological flow of the native heart, both in terms of blood flow speed and pulsatility.
Physiological Flow Speed
The blood flows at physiological speed on the membrane, close to 1-2m/s. The membrane thus exerts a limited shear stress on blood cells, preserving blood integrity, unlike rotary pumps, in which blood flows at over 5m/s.
High Fidelity Pulsatility
Unlike continuous flow turbines, the wave membrane technology provides pulsatile flow, with a frequency following the heart rate, at around 60 beats per minute. This unique and highly differentiating feature is possible notably thanks to the low inertia of the membrane, which makes the variation of the membrane activation frequency and thus the pump flow rate, fast and efficient.