Advancing the Development of Pediatric Devices
NCC-PDI brings together teams with excellence and expertise in delivering business, regulatory, legal, scientific, engineering, and clinical services for children.
Resources
Consulting
Expert advice, support services, and fund management for pediatric device innovators.
Projects
Recent Projects
A pipeline of high-potential pediatric devices for all pediatric subpopulations.
Funding
Funding Opportunities
Guide device innovators through federal and non-federal funding sources.
In September 2013, the Sheik Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation (SZI) at the Children’s National Health System and the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) P50 grant to form the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI).

In the News

Kolaleh Eskandanian, PhD, is the vice president and chief innovation officer of Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C.
Here, Dr. Eskandanian outlines the big cybersecurity challenges and how she expects her role as the chief innovation officer at Children's National to evolve over the next few years.

While medical device innovation is quite active—at the university level, within incubators, and even in the R&D labs of established firms—there is a substantial lack of products being developed for younger patients. Since pediatric devices have a limited patient base due to most children being relatively healthy (of course, a positive factor), it’s not a focus for a great number of companies as it does not offer the promise of a substantial financial return.

While FY2017's approvals notably served all four pediatric age groups, the majority of pediatric devices approved over the last decade are not indicated for children under the age of 12. What's more, a large portion of the devices indicated for FDA's 'adolescents' category are only authorized for use in patients 18 or older.
Featured
The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) announces six awardees chosen in its annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition to share in $250,000 in grants funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the advancement of pediatric medical devices. The competition, powered by NCC-PDI partner MedTech Innovator, focused on cardiovascular, NICU, and orthopaedic and spine devices, which are areas of critical need where innovation can significantly improve children's healthcare. The virtual event is part of the 8th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium presented by Children’s National Hospital in conjunction with The MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed.
This year’s pediatric device innovation awardees are:
• Adipomics, Inc.
• BioSense
• Innara Health
• Navi Medical Technologies
• Novonate
• Renata Medical
"Congratulations to all 10 companies who competed in this year’s finals for developing pioneering innovations that can provide much-needed medical device advancements for children," says Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.M.P., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National Hospital and principal investigator of NCC-PDI. "We thank the FDA for making these awards possible. Although more incentives for pediatric device development are needed, it is encouraging to witness the progress we have made since the inception of the PDC program."
In the last decade, only 24% of Class III life-saving devices approved by FDA were for pediatric use – and most of those were for children over 12. Less than 4% were labeled for pediatric patients ages 0-2 years old and the number of approved devices is even lower for neonatal patients.
"For far too long, pediatric specialists have been manipulating adult medical devices to create solutions for children’s bodies because it’s the only available option,” said Kurt Newman, M.D., president and CEO of Children’s National. “Children need and deserve devices that are conceived and designed with their biology and future in mind. I’m proud that the annual NCC-PDI symposium and pitch competition is spurring pediatric device innovation. The companies that were highlighted this year are creating solutions that will help children to lead healthier lives and grow up stronger."