Thirty semi-finalists have been announced in the annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition presented by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Medical Devices (NCC-PDI) . Organizers are adopting a virtual meeting room format to connect contestants and judges, eliminating the need for travel or an in-person gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition focuses on pediatric innovations in cardiovascular, orthopedic and spine, and NICU devices, areas of greatest need.
 
Up to 10 finalists selected from this event will participate in a newly created pediatric track in the accelerator program of non-profit accelerator MedTech Innovator and advance to the October 2020 competition finals in Toronto as part of the 8th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium hosted by Children’s National Hospital. Finalists will pitch for a share of up to $250,000 in grant awards.
 
NCC-PDI is one of five members in the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program and is led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Hospital and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. The competition is organized and led by NCC-PDI partner MedTech Innovator. NCC-PDI is also supported by partners BioHealth Innovation and design firm Archimedic.
 
Competition Semi-Finalists
Following are the 30 pediatric medical devices selected for the competition semi-finals:

• Adipomics Inc.—Cambridge, MA,—gestational pre-diabetes diagnostic to prevent birth defects
• AireHealth Inc.—Orlando, FL—portable nebulizer and connected care app for respiratory care
• Ben Guard Healthcare Solutions LLC—Glen Ellyn, IL—wearable catheter securement device for pediatric DVCs and other tubing
• BioMotum, LLC—Flagstaff, AZ—therapy device to improve movement disorder treatment
• BioSense—Beverly Hill, MI—first working non-contact EKG for constant, non-invasive monitoring
• Bloom Standard, Ltd. —St. Paul, MN—wearable AI-driven ultrasound device for low-resource countries, infant CHD and pulmonary screening
• Brain Stem Biometrics—Palo Alto, CA—Microsensor patch to monitor sleep and neurodevelopment in premature infants
• CorFix—University of Maryland, College Park, MD—VR surgical planning system for cardiovascular disease diagnosis and graft design and optimization
• Dsseca—University of Maryland, College Park, MD—platform device to rapidly discover biomarker signatures of oxidative stress
• Eclipse Regenesis Inc.—Menlo Park, CA—first restorative therapy for short bowel syndrome (SBS) via distraction enterogenesis
• Heamac Healthcare Pvt. Ltd—Hyderabad, India—diagnostic tool to measure parameters of a neonate with jaundice
• Innara Health—Olathe, KS—Ntrainer biofeedback device to train premature infants and newborns in the neurophysiological aspects of feeding
• Lactation Innovations—Canterbury, CT—Manoula measures amount of breastmilk consumed during infant feeding
• Lifespan—Providence, RI—Positioning device to improve success in performing spinal tap in febrile infants
• Little Sparrows Technologies Inc.—Winchester, MA—Portable, high-intensity phototherapy for neonatal jaundice treatment
• Medicsen —Leeds, UK—Needle-free Smartpatch for painless drug delivery for kids
• Novonate— South San Francisco, CA—secures and protects the umbilical catheter insertion site for neonates in intensive care
• OCBrace—Orange, CA—4D ultrasound brace design system using real-time measurements of the spinal deformity to maximize correction and brace efficacy
• OpticSurg Inc.—Wilmington, DE—Augmented reality-enhanced telemedicine platform
• Ostiio—Philadelphia—An implantable, magnetic distraction system for expansion of the craniomaxillofacial skeleton
• Pediafeed—Baltimore —optimizing pediatric gastrostomy feeding tubes
• PediaMetrix Inc.—Rockville, MD—a mobile app for early detection and treatment of infant flat head syndrome
• Promedix Inc.—Portland, OR—Measures distal blood flow for early diagnosis of shock in children
• Renata Medical—Costa Mesa, CA—growth stent for treatment of congenital narrowed lesions in neonatal patients
• SpineGuide Technologies Inc.—Dover, DE—3D multi-segment growth guidance rod system for scoliosis to provide good correction & growth
• Spino Modulation Inc.—Montreal, Canada—anterior vertebral body tethering for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
• TheraB Medical—East Lansing, MI—wearable, portable neonatal jaundice treatment promoting bonding and breastfeeding
• Tremedics Medical Devices—North Richland Hills, TX—Illusicor, a bioresorbable stent to treat congenital heart disease
• Ventora Medical Pty Ltd—Flemington, Australia—real time monitoring of infant lung pressure to improve the accuracy of non-invasive respiratory support for neonates
• VitaScope—Toronto, Canada—provides quick and accurate newborn heart rate to facilitate high quality resuscitation.

 
There is a pressing need for more medical devices created especially for children. On average over the past decade, only 24 percent of life-saving medical devices approved by FDA—those that go through PMA and HDE regulatory pathways—have an indication for pediatric use. Of those, most are designated for children age 12 or older.