Left to Right: Peter Kim, MD, PhD, Sheikh Zayed Institute; John Vaughan, AventaMed; Donald S. Prough, MD, Prospiria, Inc; Kolaleh Eskandanian, PhD, Sheikh Zayed Institute. (click to enlarge)
The Children’s National Health System, Washington, DC, has announced the winners of the pediatric medical device competition at the 3rd Annual Pediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.
AventaMed of Cork, Ireland, and Prospiria Inc of Galveston, Tex, each won $50,000 to develop their technologies. The competition was part of the institute’s effort to foster innovation that will advance pediatric healthcare and address unmet surgical and medical device needs for children.
According to Children’s National, AventaMed submitted a handheld pediatric ear tube device that does not require full general anesthesia, and Prospiria submitted a noninvasive device that uses optoacoustic imaging to monitor endotracheal tube (ET) positioning for pediatric life support patients. Children’s National reports that eight finalists participated in the competition, chosen from 53 submissions from 5 countries.
“Our heartfelt congratulations to this year’s winners, who were selected from a highly competitive field of worthy devices,” said Kolaleh Eskandanian, PhD, MBA, PMP, executive director of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation. “In the institute’s role as a catalyst for pediatric innovation,…we will make available our institute’s expertise in pediatric product development, including a network of engineering, regulatory, and business advisors to help [AvantaMed and Prospiria] get their devices to market faster.”
Recognizing that the need for pediatric ear tube procedures are the number one reason children undergo surgery requiring general anesthesia, Ireland-based AventaMed developed a hand-held pediatric ear tube device that does not require full general anesthesia. Prospiria’s noninvasive device using optoacoustic imaging to monitor endotracheal tube (ET) positioning for pediatric life support patients was created because there is currently not an expedient solution to identify the 20% to 50% of ETs that are initially malpositioned, or that move during intubation. Incorrectly positioned ETs pose serious risk to patients, especially infants, the device developers explain.
For more information about the competition and the event, visit the Children’s National website.
Photo credit: Kaveh Sardari
