ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2002) — A miniature pump designed to help your heart beat and a device that insures the safety of the International Space Station and its crew have received NASA's commercial and government invention of the year awards.
Receiving NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year is a miniature ventricular-assist device (VAD). Initially called the NASA/DeBakey heart pump, it is based in part on technology used in Space Shuttle fuel pumps. It is intended as a long-term "bridge" to a heart transplant, or as a more permanent device to help patients toward recovery and a more normal life.