The Path to Innovation
An inside look at the complex and careful engineering behind the development of a life-saving medical tool.
Oliver Peters and Matti Elsner can tell you a lot about heart failure in children. Neither are doctors, however; they’re part of the engineering team at a company called Berlin Heart that builds a device that offers a medical solution. Known as EXCOR, the ventricular assist technology helps to pump blood in children when the heart is no longer able to function on its own, giving patients time recover or to wait for an organ transplant.
Since its creation, EXCOR has supported over 2,000 young people. It’s a milestone that doesn’t happen without creative engineers like Peters and Elsner—and a process that allows them to innovate and iterate to ensure the efficacy of the product. As part of this process, Berlin Heart works with a company called NI on testing solutions. Their collaboration has ensured that the EXCOR technology is deployed safely, consistently and quickly to children who need it.
In the second episode of Engineering Hope, a three-part video series, we’ll tell the story of Peters and Elsner, the challenges they face in developing this vital medical tool and one young patient who is alive today thanks to their efforts.
