LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 - The West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics (CTIP), centered at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has awarded $165,000 in seed grants to accelerate projects specifically designed to improve the safety and delivery of care to infants and children.
The four projects that earned CTIP's 2017 Catalyzing Pediatric Innovation Grants (each awarded at $30,000-$50,000) will help develop devices for early detection of a life-threatening gastrointestinal disease, neurological monitoring in toddlers, less invasive pediatric mechanical ventilation and optimum delivery of nutrients to young patients.
Pediatric patients have long been an underserved population in the technology space with many having to deal with ill-fitted medical devices and a lack of access to effective diagnostic or therapeutic devices. CTIP aims to address these unmet needs.
This year's grant winners, announced August 1, are as follows:
Novel triggering method for pediatric mechanical ventilation: RESPivice — A device to allow more accurate alignment of a ventilator with a patient's own breathing. Young children do not benefit from many advances in non-invasive ventilation because they cannot synchronize their breath effectively with the ventilator. Asynchronous ventilator-timed breaths can be ineffective and even dangerous. The novel system includes external belts to measure movement of the abdomen and chest wall, along with sophisticated algorithms that will enable real-time filtering of signals for accurate breath triggering — bringing child and machine in closer harmony.
Optical detection of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) at bedside: UCLA — Left untreated, nec leads to bowel dysfunction, intestinal cell death and systemic illness, even death. The ucla project uses advanced optical technology to assess restricted blood supply (ischemia) in intestinal tissues — a problem that causes a reduction of oxygen and glucose needed for cellular metabolism. The real-time evaluation of gut status could lead to improved outcomes by allowing for early detection and treatment.
A practical high-fidelity dry electrode eeg system for toddlers: Wearable Sensing — Seizures are a common neurological disorder in infants and children. Current "Wet" electrode systems require skin abrasion and the use of gels that are problematic in young children. Wearable sensing plans to commercialize a dry electrode eeg headset for toddlers between 1 to 3 years, using technology developed by quasar.
A novel nasogastric feeding tube for optimizing nutritional administration in pediatric patients: Theranova — Hospitalized children often require nasogastric (nose-to-stomach) feeding. Tube misplacement is a serious problem, occurring in a large percentage of placements in children and neonates nationwide. Theranova's solution combines low-cost sensors, an algorithm-operated monitor and a data-driven feeding pump. The system avoids the cost and risk of using radiography to verify tube placement.