Grants for pediatric cardiology devices

The Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI), a nonprofit consortium led by Children’s National Hospital and funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announces it’s partnering with Additional Ventures, a nonprofit foundation focused on accelerating research progress and improving clinical care for individuals born with single ventricle heart defects, to solicit proposals and offer grant funding for the development of pediatric devices specifically evaluated and labeled for children with heart conditions.

Children with heart conditions face unique challenges that demand specialized medical devices tailored to their specific physiological needs. There is a significant unmet need for pediatric devices designed to monitor and treat young patients effectively in cardiology, interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and electrophysiology.

Current technologies for pediatric heart patients often fall short because they are typically adapted from adult devices and may not provide the accuracy, safety or comfort required for children. Areas of special interest include remote patient monitoring systems that can track vital signs and heart function in real-time, wearable devices designed for continuous monitoring, and minimally invasive technologies for cardiac procedures. Through this request for proposals, APDI seeks innovative solutions that address these gaps, offering the potential to transform care for children with heart conditions by developing advanced, child-centric devices.

"Our commitment to advancing pediatric cardiology is stronger than ever. With the launch of this initiative, we are paving the way for innovative pediatric devices that will transform how we monitor and care for children with heart conditions,” says Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National and APDI program director and principal investigator. “This proposal allows us to support projects that show promise in advancing novel devices specifically designed for children and support innovators who need funds for the complex process of bringing new technologies to market.”

When approaching device design for this proposal, Dr. Eskandanian adds that innovators should start with a pediatric focus because, if the device works for children, it can be adapted for adults. She notes that developing pediatric device solutions requires an individualized approach with a design that accommodates usability for all age groups.

The total award fund of $300,000 will be distributed among innovators with the most promising devices as selected by the judging panel. As part of the collaboration, Additional Ventures and APDI will provide winning companies with support services and technical expertise, including but not limited to regulatory, reimbursement, clinical trials study design and data science services.

Interested innovators can learn more and apply for the APDI medical device grant online at https://innovate4kids.org/. The deadline to apply is midnight on September 23, 2024.

APDI is one of five nonprofit consortia in the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia program that receives funding to provide a platform of services, expertise and grants to support pediatric innovators in bringing medical devices to the market that address the needs of children. Along with Children’s National, APDI members include Johns Hopkins University, CIMIT at Mass General Brigham, Tufts Medical Center, Medstar Health Research Institute, OrthoPediatrics Corp. and MedTech Color.

Advancements in pediatric medical devices continue to lag significantly behind those of adults, which is why APDI is focused on helping more pediatric medical device innovations achieve commercialization. For more information on APDI, visit https://innovate4kids.org/