Four winners were announced in the 2016 Target Challenge Grant competition held by the New England Pediatric Device Consortium (NEPDC) www.NEPDC.org/challenge.html and the Center for Translation of Rehabilitation Engineering Advances and Technology (TREAT) www.treatcenter.org.
The 2016 Target Challenge is held in partnership with the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America (POSNA) www.posna.org, and the Foundation for Physical Therapy www.foundation4pt.org. The Challenge was created to foster development and accelerate commercialization of technologies for pediatric rehabilitation.
“Great advances in medicine are available to keep kids alive, but the appropriate rehabilitation technology available to them from infancy through adolescence has not kept up at the same pace. Pediatric rehabilitation services and medical devices must also be developed and evolved to meet the diverse needs and emerging health challenges”, said Rick Greenwald, PhD, NEPDC Co-Director.
Grant funding for $150,000 and over 400 hours of in-kind service to help the commercialization of four medical devices were awarded. All applications were reviewed through a multi-stage process by a panel of business clinical, and technology development experts. Selected finalists were invited to pitch their strategy for developing and bringing their device to market.
Awardees receiving grants and in-kind services include:
- UNYQ Scoliosis Brace-UNYQ San Francisco
- Lite Run Pediatric Gait Trainer-Lite Run Minneapolis
- PlayGait University of Washington
- Electrical Stimulation-Assisted Video Game Hand Therapy for Cerebral Palsy Care Western Reserve University
NEPDC was formed three years ago as a multidisciplinary consortium with the goal to help inventors accelerate the commercialization of pediatric medical devices through FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia program.
Ann-Christine Duhaime MD, NEPDC Co-Director, encourages the clinical and caregiver community to reach out before the end of the year with pediatric needs that could become the focus for the 2017 Target Challenge.