NEPDC Funds Three Companies for Pediatric Healthcare Innovation

For a fourth year, NEPDC has announced funding and in-kind service support for solutions targeting a specific need in pediatric healthcare. NEPDC opened a call for devices addressing unintended removal or dislodgment of catheters or tubing in early June 2017. “In the primary care setting, when I see families trying to manage long term health issues with their kids, we try to look for areas of light. At times the tunnel looks pretty dark,” says Dr. Marion Pierson, Pediatrician, Village Pediatrics and NEPDC advisor. “Having to recapture ground when IV access lines are lost or tubes become dislodged can be like traveling backwards in that long, dark tunnel.”

Three companies with products aimed at solving this problem were awarded a portion of $100,000 in total grant funding and additional in-kind service. All applications were reviewed through a competitive multi-stage process by a panel of business, clinical, and technology development experts.

Awardees receiving grants and in-kind services include:

• SafeBreak™ Vascular – Lineus Medical, Fayetteville, Arkansas
• CareAline CVC Wrap and PICC Sleeve – CareAline Products, LLC, Danvers, Massachusetts
• Central Line Wraps – Gus Gear, LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“We lived through the fear of dislodgment in our own child, and we want to eliminate that fear for other patients, families, and the healthcare system. Innovating and manufacturing devices that provide a safe, consistent way to secure catheters and tubes, and reduce complications,kooralive  is our passion,” commented Kezia and Mike Fitzgerald, Founders of CareAline Products.

The Institute for Pediatric Innovation’s Clinical Innovation Catalyst program was given special recognition for a novel precut tape concept to address unplanned extubations in the youngest of children.

NEPDC was formed four years ago as a multidisciplinary consortium with a goal to help inventors accelerate the commercialization of pediatric medical devices through the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia program. NEPDC offers quarterly grant opportunities with three submissions geared toward general device ideas. The next abstract deadline for grant funding is October 9, 2017, with applications due on October 23.