Patent attributes
In various embodiments, a catheter pump is disclosed herein. The catheter pump can include an elongated catheter body having a distal portion including an expandable cannula having an inlet and an outlet. The expandable cannula can have a delivery profile and an operational profile larger than the delivery profile. An impeller assembly can include an impeller shaft, and an impeller body can include one or more blades. The impeller blades can draw blood into the cannula when rotated. Further, an expandable support can have a mounting portion disposed on the impeller shaft distal of the impeller body and a cannula contact portion for reducing a change in tip gap due to bending of the cannula. The cannula contact portion can be disposed distal of the mounting portion.