Sheikh Zayed Institute announces winning innovators

The Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Medical Centre in Washington D.C. has announced the two winning paediatric medical device innovators at the Third Annual Paediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium. AventaMed of Cork, Ireland and Prospiria, Inc. of Galveston, Texas, were selected from eight finalists to each receive a US$50,000 award in the annual competition that was part of the institute's third annual symposium focused on fostering innovation that will advance paediatric healthcare and address unmet surgical and medical device needs for children.

"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 Paediatric Surgical Innovation. "In the institute's role as a catalyst for paediatric innovation, we see this as the beginning of our relationship with AventaMed and Prospiria. Along with the monetary prize, we will make available our institute's expertise in paediatric product development, including a network of engineering, regulatory, and business advisors to help them get their devices to market faster."

Recognising that paediatric ear tube surgery is the number one reason children undergo surgery that requires general anaesthesia, Ireland-based AventaMed has developed a hand-held paediatric ear tube device that does not require full general anaesthesia. "We are elated about this prize because it will allow us to expand our clinical trial to the US more quickly and increase the number of patients, enabling us to submit for FDA approval sooner," said John Vaughan, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of AventaMed.

Prospiria, Inc. presented a non-invasive device using optoacoustic imaging to monitor endotracheal tube, ET, positioning for paediatric life support patients. Donald S. Prough, MD, Interim CEO of Prospiria and Rebecca Terry White Distinguished Chair of Anaesthesiology at UTMB, explained that there is currently not an expedient solution to identify the 20 to 50 percent of ETs that are initially mal-positioned, or that move during intubation. Incorrectly positioned ETs pose serious risk to patients, especially infants. "The prize money has an enormous impact because it enables us to complete clinical studies, conduct a thorough marketing analysis and obtain outside expertise to create a more user-friendly display," Dr. Prough said. "Winning a competition of this calibre, as judged by a highly skilled multi-disciplinary panel, also gives us the validation needed to pursue additional funding."
Source: WAM