FUEL CELL POWER PACKS FOR LEFT VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE

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