Abstract:To improve the filling characteristics of pneumatically driven membrane Artificial hearts (AHs), a vacuum is applied during diastole. This paper describes an ejector system for AH‐drivers based on the Venturi effect, which was designed for this purpose. It provides vacuums of more than ‐40 mmHg at flow rates up to 50 1/min requiring a supplying primary gas pressure of less than 150 kPa (1140 mmHg). Under normal working conditions, the necessary supply flow was less than 51/min. The device is small, cheap, quiet and fail‐safe, and has been evaluated successfully in experimental and clinica
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