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Pediatric Artificial Heart

Nook Roller Screw Makes a Difference in Pediatric Heart Study

Problem

Every year thousands of babies are born with congenital heart defects. While some defects are minor, others may cause congestive heart failure. These more serious defects affect the heart and its ability to pump adequate blood to the lungs and other body parts. The lack of blood can lead to fluid build-up around the lungs and heart. Many babies have had to forego corrective surgery for temporary repairs until the heart was strong enough to withstand major surgery. During major surgery doctors need tiny artificial hearts to keep blood pumping to the rest of the body. The new Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) pump designs must be durable, efficient, and have high life expectancy.

Solution

Contacted by Penn State University College of Medicine, Nook Industries was asked to design a screw with custom 8mm diameter and 3mm lead combination. The nature of the application meant that high efficiency and reliability were of paramount importance to the PSU design team. For this reason, a planetary roller screw was selected over a ball screw. Having a complete design and manufacturing team in-house, Nook was able to complete design and prototyping within just a few weeks. The flexibility that this offered kept the PSU project on-time and on budget. Benchmark testing with water has been completed with 9 more prototypes in the queue for further testing.

Nook Advantages

  • Part number protection
  • Custom design (8x3 not standard offering)
  • Responsive to design changes
  • Engineering assistance through design phase
  • Increased life expectancy, efficiency, and reliability
  • Product lead time

 

Customer Benefits

  • Rapid deployment of prototypes into testing
  • Efficient and reliable actuation
  • Cost effective solution - delivered on-time
  • Benchmark testing completed

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