TRANSSEPTAL NEEDLE R&D FIXTURES
TRANSSEPTAL NEEDLE R&D FIXTURES SUMMARY
Pipeline designed five fixtures to qualify the functionality of a medical device transseptal needle: Insertion Force, Tip Retention, Straightness, Shaft Cycling & Thermal Spread.
TEAM:
Mechanical Engineer, Controls Engineer, Software Engineer, Technician
DESIGN TOOLS USED:
Solidworks, 3D Printing, LabVIEW
MARKET:
Medical Devices
PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
- Fully automated measurement of insertion force of transseptal needle into phantom vasculature
- Fully automated measurement of straightness of transseptal needle
- Quantify thermal response of needle tip during use
- Monitoring and data acquisition of testing via software automation
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
Pipeline’s customer needed a full suite of fixtures to test and functionally qualify their device. In the images below, only the insertion fixture is shown. However, Pipeline also delivered a shaft straightness measuring fixture, a tip retention fixture, a shaft cycling fixture, and a thermal measurement fixture. Each fixture was developed turnkey from the ground up specifically to meet the needs of this particular device.
Pipeline provided significant R&D efforts to determine acceptable processes and mechanisms to meet customer objectives. After the R&D phase was complete, Pipeline proceeded to complete detailed design, drawings, procurement, software development, assembly, and functional verification of each fixture before delivering them to the customer.
