Every year the Children’s National Health System holds its Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium, an event in which companies compete to win funding for the development of their pediatric products. This year the competition is zeroing in on pediatric cardiovascular devices that are candidates for commercialization and is accepting proposals until September 10.

“There is a profound need for cardiovascular devices made specifically for children, especially the younger subpopulations of children under 18 years of age, so we decided to focus this year’s competition on this one particular need with the emphasis on also testing these novel devices on the younger kids,” said Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National and principal investigator of NCC-PDI in a press release. “We are seeking devices that can make a life-saving difference for thousands of children each year.”

Competition finalists will pitch their device to a panel of judges and up to four innovations will receive $25,000 each. These winners will also receive consultation services from experts at Children’s National Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering.

More information about the competition is available on the Pediatric Device Innovation Symposium’s website. The competition will be held on September 23, and the symposium will be co-located with The MedTech Conference in Philadelphia.

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