FUEL CELL POWER PACKS FOR LEFT VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE

描述(未经编辑的申请人摘要)：终末期心脏病患者，谁 由于年龄限制，缺乏供者，无法进行心脏移植 使用免疫抑制药物时的心脏或并发症本质上是 被LVAD和TAH设备抢救出来。据估计，美国有4-7万人 65岁以下的心血管患者可以从心脏移植中受益 一年，而实际上只有2400名患者接受了这种移植。这些 患者可以从LVAD类型的装置中受益，作为移植的桥梁 以及另一种治疗方案。在-900名患者中 接受LVAD系统的人数越来越多，超过了三年的大关 为他们的LVAD设备提供持续支持。随着越来越多的 在LVAD上的人们，需要一个可靠的电力系统来支持 设备工作时间更长，不会中断。 在第一阶段计划中，我们论证了生产低燃料的可行性 电池堆组件，重量-225g，堆体积0.19L。 单电池的性能与最先进的电池相当，而一些 当将单个电池组装成一个 堆叠。这种退化的原因已查明，并已得到纠正。 第二阶段的建议集中在电力的工程发展上。 收拾行李。进一步减轻重量/体积、供热和水管理问题， 膜电极组件的优化，氢气的评价 源、故障分析和初始危险分析是 第二阶段计划。在第二阶段结束时，集成了 氢存储将在人工器官中制造和测试 匹兹堡大学发展中心。 建议的商业应用： 不可用

DESCRIPTION (Unedited Applicant's Abstract):The end-stage cardiac patients, who cannot undergo heart transplantation owing to age limitation, lack of donor hearts or complications in using immunosuppressive drugs are essentially salvaged by LVAD and TAH devices. An estimated 40-70,000 American cardiovascular patients under age 65 could benefit from a heart transplant each year, whereas only 2,400 patients actually receive such transplants. These patients can benefit from the LVAD type devices both as a bridge to transplant as well as an alternative treatment option. Of the -900 patients who have received the LVAD system, a growing number are surpassing the three-year-mark of continuous support with their LVAD device. With such growing number of people on LVAD, there is a need for a reliable power system that could support the devices for longer hours without interruption. In Phase I program, we demonstrated the feasibility of producing a low fuel cell stack assembly, weighing -225 g and stack volume of 0.19 L. The performance of single cell matched those of the state-of-the-art while some performance degradation was observed when single cells were assembled into a stack. The cause for such degradation has been identified and since corrected. The Phase II proposal concentrates on the engineering development of the power pack. Further weight/volume reduction, heat and water management issues, optimization of the membrane electrode assemblies, evaluation of the hydrogen source, failure analysis and initial hazard analysis are the objectives of the Phase II program. At the end of Phase II, a prototype unit with integrated hydrogen storage will be fabricated and tested at the Artificial Organ Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Not Available