Team Ravenclaw Device Design

C.L.A.W. : Child Life Aid Widget

There are two main reasons a child may need a heart transplant; congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy. Currently there are no fully implantable devices that are small enough to fit in an infant’s chest cavity. Our team, over the course of a semester, developed the Child Life Aid Widget (C.L.A.W) which is artificial heart constructed of the electroactive polymer Nafion. Nafion’s response to an electrical stimulation is a graded mechanical force. Our heart consists of four chambers, replicating the human heart, which contract after stimulation from pacemaker leads. The “atria” contract first, followed by the “ventricles” which are stimulated by a separate lead from the pacemaker. The CLAW chambers have an inner coating of gold, which is non-thrombogenic and pliable, and the outside of the chambers are coated with platinum. The CLAW will be encapsulated in a neoprene/HEMA copolymer “pericardial sac” to prevent irritation of the surrounding tissues.

The CLAW will utilize Medtronic Hall easy fit valves and Dacron grafts, which will be used by surgeons to implant our device. If the patient’s heart has a chance of recovery, we will use heterotopic implantation. If more room is needed in the patient’s chest cavity, the surgeon will perform a lobectomy. Our device will be powered by a modified pacemaker battery and will be rechargeable via a piezoelectric clothing. We will be administering the anticoagulant Heparin to reduce the possibility of coagulation. Our device will be able to provide the appropriate cardiac output for children under the age of 13.

This group consisted of Kelsey Thompson, Stacy Prukop, Courtney Shell, Peter Sguigna, Joann Pearson, Beth Placette, Leigh Ann Piefer, Ricky Van de Graf, Patrick Simmons, and Nicolas Sears.