Tag Archive for: Innovation

REI Week 2025 empowers the future in pediatric research and innovation

Children’s National Hospital hosted its fifteenth annual Research, Education and Innovation Week from March 31–April 4, 2025, bringing together clinicians, scientists, educators and innovators from across the institution to celebrate discovery and collaboration. This year’s theme, “Empowering the Future in Pediatric Research and Innovation with Equity, Technology and a Global Reach,” served as a call to action for advancing science that improves child health both locally and around the world.

Each day of the week-long event featured thought-provoking lectures — now available to watch — dynamic panel discussions, interactive workshops and vibrant poster sessions, all highlighting the diverse and interdisciplinary work taking place across Children’s National.

Centering the patient and the planet

REI Week began on Monday with a powerful keynote lecture from Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MS, MPH, Michael and Lori Milken dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. In her talk, “Children: Uniquely vulnerable to climate-related threats,” Dr. Goldman underscored the urgent need to protect children from the environmental hazards of a changing climate and to integrate climate science into pediatric care and advocacy.

At mid-morning, Mary-Anne “Annie” Hartley, MD, PhD, MPH, director of the LiGHT Laboratory at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, introduced the “MOOVE” platform — Massive Open Online Validation and Evaluation of clinical LLMs. Her talk demonstrated how artificial intelligence, when rigorously validated, has the potential to transform clinical decision-making and global health equity.

Monday’s final keynote, “Zinc and childhood diarrhea,” was presented by Christopher Duggan, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Duggan highlighted the global health impact of zinc supplementation in reducing childhood mortality — a reminder that simple, evidence-based interventions can save millions of lives.

In that first day, the first poster session of the week showcased projects in adolescent medicine, global health, infectious diseases, oncology and more. The session reflected the full breadth of research taking place across Children’s National.

Ambroise Wonkam, MD, PhD, professor of genetic medicine at Johns Hopkins University, then delivered Tuesday’s Global Health Keynote Lecture, “Harnessing our common African genomes to improve health and equity globally.” His work affirmed that inclusive genomics is key to building a healthier world.

Later, the Global Health Initiative event and GCAF Faculty Seminar encouraged attendees to pursue collaborative opportunities at home and abroad, reflecting the growing global footprint of Children’s National research programs.

Transforming education and care delivery

On Wednesday, Larrie Greenberg, MD, professor emeritus of pediatrics, kicked off the day with a Grand Rounds keynote on educational transformation: “Shouldn’t teachers be more collaborative with their learners?” He followed with a CAPE workshop exploring the effectiveness of case-based learning.

The Nursing Sponsored Keynote Lecture by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, MPH, LCSW, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, explored “Redesigning the U.S. broken health system.” He offered an urgent and inspiring call to reimagine pediatric care by addressing social determinants of health.

In the Jill Joseph Grand Rounds Lecture, Deena J. Chisolm, PhD, director of the Center for Child Health Equity at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, challenged attendees to move beyond dialogue into action in her talk, “Health equity: A scream to a whisper?,” reminding researchers and clinicians that advocacy and equity must be foundational to care.

The day continued with a poster session spotlighting medical education, neonatology, urology and neuroscience, among other fields.

Posters and pathways to progress

Throughout the week, poster sessions highlighted cutting-edge work across dozens of pediatric disciplines. These sessions gave attendees the opportunity to engage directly with investigators and reflect on the shared mission of discovery across multiple disciplines, including:

Honoring excellence across Children’s National

The REI Week 2025 Awards Ceremony celebrated outstanding contributions in research, mentorship, education and innovation. The winners in each category were:

POSTER SESSION AWARDS

Basic & Translational Research

Faculty:  Benjamin Liu, PhD

“Genetic Conservation and Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 Envelope Gene Across Variants of Concern”

Faculty:  Steve Hui, PhD
“Brain Metabolites in Neonates of Mothers with COVID-19 Infection During Pregnancy”

Faculty: Raj Shekhar, PhD
“StrepApp: Deep Learning-Based Identification of Group A Streptococcal (GAS) Pharyngitis”

Post docs/Fellows/Residents: Dae-young Kim, PhD
“mhGPT: A Lightweight Domain-Specific Language Model for Mental Health Analysis”

Post docs/Fellows/Residents: Leandros Boukas, MD, PhD
“De Novo Variant Identification From Duo Long-Read Sequencing: Improving Equitable Variant Interpretation for Diverse Family Structures”

Staff: Naseem Maghzian
“Adoptive T Lymphocyte Administration for Chronic Norovirus Treatment in Immunocompromised Hosts (ATLANTIC)”

Graduate Students: Abigail Haffey
“Synergistic Integration of TCR and CAR T Cell Platforms for Enhanced Adoptive Immunotherapy in Brain Tumors”

High School/Undergraduate Students: Medha Pappula
“An ADHD Diagnostic Interface Based on EEG Spectrograms and Deep Learning Techniques”

Clinical Research

Faculty: Folasade Ogunlesi, MD
“Poor Air Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa is Associated with Increase Health Care Utilization for Pain in Sickle Cell   Disease Patients”

Faculty: Ayman Saleh, MD
“Growth Parameters and Treatment Approaches in Pediatric ADHD: Examining Differences Across Race”

Post docs/Fellows/Residents: Nicholas Dimenstein, MD, MPH
“Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Eligibility in the Pediatric Emergency Department”

Staff: Tayla Smith, MPH
“The Public Health Impact of State-Level Abortion and    Firearm Laws on Health Outcomes”

Graduate Students: Natalie Ewing
“Patterns of Bacteriuria and Antimicrobial Resistance in Patients Presenting for Primary Cloacal Repair: Is Assisted Bladder Emptying Associated with Bacteriuria?”

Graduate Students: Manuela Iglesias, MS
“Exploring the Relationship Between Child Opportunity Index and Bayley-III Scores in Young Children”

High School/Undergraduate Students: Nicholas Lohman
“Preliminary Findings: The Efficacy, Feasibility and Acceptability of Group Videoconference Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention for Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Among Children and Young People”

Community-Based Research

Faculty: Sharon Shih, PhD
“Assessing Pediatric Behavioral Health Access in DC using Secret Shopper Methodology”

Post docs/Fellows/Residents: Georgios Sanidas, MD
“Arrested Neuronal Maturation and Development in the Cerebellum of Preterm Infants”

Staff: Sanam Parwani

“Intersectionality of Gender and Sexuality Diversity in Autistic and Non-Autistic Individuals”

Graduate Student: Margaret Dearey
“Assessing the Burden of Period Poverty for Youth and Adolescents in Washington, DC: A Pilot Study”

Quality and Performance Improvement

Faculty: Nichole L. McCollum, MD
“A Quality Improvement Study to Increase   Nurse Initiated Care from Triage and Improve Timeliness to Care”

Post docs/Fellows/Residents:  Hannah Rodriguez, MD
“Reducing Unnecessary Antibiotic Use in a Level IV NICU”

Staff: Amber K. Shojaie, OTD, OTR/L
“Implementing Dynamic Axilla Splints in a Large Burn Patient”

MENTORSHIP AWARDS

Basic Science Research

Conrad Russell Y. Cruz, MD, PhD

Clinical Research

Rana Hamdy, MD, MPH, MSCE

Bench to Bedside Research

Ioannis Koutroulis, MD, PhD, MBA

ELDA ARCE TEACHING SCHOLAR AWARD

Priti D. Bhansali, MD, MEd

Heather Ann Walsh, PhD, RN

SUZANNE FEETHAM NURSING RESEARCH SUPPORT AWARD

Eileen P. Engh, PhD RN 
“Rare Disease Organization Lifecycle” Role in Helping Parents with Everyday Life Information Seeking and Connection (RDO-HELIX)

EXPLORATIONS IN GLOBAL HEALTH PILOT AWARDS

Launchpad Awards

Mi Ran Shin, MD, MPH
“Establishing Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation for Birth and Burn Injuries in Ethiopia”

Susan Harvey, MSN, CPNP-AC
“Implementation of Sickle Cell Pilot Program in Ndhiwa Sub County, Kenya”

Meleah Boyle, PhD, MPH
“Understanding and Addressing Environmental Sustainability to Protect the Health of the Children’s National and Global Communities”

Eiman Abdulrahman, MD
“Research Capacity Building to Improve Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care in Ethiopia”

Pilot Awards

Alexander Andrews, MD
“EEG as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker in Severe Pediatric Malaria, Blantyre Malawi”

Daniel Donoho, MD & Timothy Singer, MD
“Feasibility Study of a Novel Artificial Intelligence-Based Educational Platform to Improve Neurosurgical Operative Skills in Tanzania”

Hasan Syed, MD
“Bridging the Gap an Educational Needs Assessment for Pediatric Neurosurgery Training in Pakistan”

Sofia Perazzo, MD & Lamia Soghier, MD, MEd, MBA
“QI Mentorship to Improve Pediatric Screening and Follow-up in Rural Argentina”

Benjamin Liu, PhD
“AI-Empowered Real-Time Sequencing Assay for Rapid Detection of Schistosomiasis in Senegal”

Rae Mittal, MD
“Assessment and Enhancement of Proficiency in Emergency Child Neurology Topics for Post-Graduate Emergency Medicine Trainees in India”

Innovation Day ignites bold thinking

Thursday, REI Week shifted to the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus for Innovation Day, a celebration of how bold ideas and collaborative culture can accelerate progress in pediatric medicine.

Brandy Salmon, PhD, associate vice president of Innovation and Partnerships at Virginia Tech, opened the day with “The Alchemy of Innovation,” focusing on how institutions can build a culture that fuels transformative partnerships.

A multidisciplinary panel discussion moderated by Nathan Kuppermann, MD, MPH, and Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD, featured Nehal Mehta, MD, Julia Finkel, MD, Kevin Cleary, PhD, Ioannis Koutroulis, MD, PhD, MBA, Francesca Joseph, MD and Patrick Hanley, PhD, who shared how innovation can be advanced and promoted, especially as a core institutional priority.

A shared vision for the future

REI Week 2025 reaffirmed the values that define Children’s National: a commitment to excellence, collaboration and equity in pediatric research and care. As discoveries continue to emerge from our hospital and our research campuses, the connections built and ideas sparked during this week will help shape the future of pediatric health — locally and globally.

By elevating voices from the bedside to the bench, with the support of the executive sponsors Nathan Kuppermann, MD, MBChB, Catherine Bollard, MBChB, MD, Kerstin Hildebrandt, MSHS, Linda Talley, MS, RN, NE-BC and David Wessel, MD, REI Week demonstrated that we must embrace the community in all aspects of our work. Because we know that there are answers we can only get from the patients that we serve—and we need to be their voice.

Research, Education & Innovation Week will be back next year on April 13-17, 2026.

  • Posters at the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 31 poster session.

    Posters at the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 31 poster session.
  • Panelists discuss innovation during REI Week 2025.

    Panelists discuss innovation during REI Week 2025.
  • Global Health Initiative community engagement event during REI Week 2025.

    Global Health Initiative community engagement event during REI Week 2025.
  • Chris Rees presents his REI Week 2025 lecture.

    Chris Rees presents his REI Week 2025 lecture.
  • Nathan Kuppermann listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Tuesday, April 1, poster session.

    Nathan Kuppermann listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Tuesday, April 1, poster session.
  • Michelle Riley-Brown, Nathan Kuppermann, Catherine Bollard and Naomi Luban on stage during the REI Week 2025 awards ceremony.

    Michelle Riley-Brown, Nathan Kuppermann, Catherine Bollard and Naomi Luban on stage during the REI Week 2025 awards ceremony.
  • Brandy Salmon presents on innovation programs at Virginia Tech during the REI Week 2025 Innovation Day.

    Brandy Salmon presents on innovation programs at Virginia Tech during the REI Week 2025 Innovation Day.
  • Catherine Bollard listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 21 poster session.

    Catherine Bollard listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 21 poster session.
  • Ambroise Wonkman poses for a picture with Children’s National staff.

    Ambroise Wonkman poses for a picture with Children’s National staff.
  • Tanzeem Choudhury presenting during REI Week 2025.

    Tanzeem Choudhury presenting during REI Week 2025.

Children’s National delivers on the promise in 2024

Children's National Hospital's 2023-2024 Academic Annual Report on a tablet

The Children’s National 2023-2024 Academic Annual Report show on a tablet.

Children’s National Hospital has released its 2023-2024 Academic Annual Report, showcasing a year of transformative progress in pediatric medicine. The report highlights achievements across its research centers, institutes and Innovation Ventures, underscoring the hospital’s role as a leader in advancing child health through innovation and collaboration.

“This year’s report reflects the remarkable progress we have made in advancing the frontiers of pediatric medicine,” said Nathan Kuppermann, MD, MPH, Chief Academic Officer and Chair of Pediatrics. “It highlights groundbreaking work across our research centers, institutes, and Innovation Ventures, showcasing the collaborative spirit that drives our mission forward. These achievements underscore our shared commitment to delivering transformative research and the best possible outcomes for children and families.”

Delivering across centers

The report captures the contributions of each of Children’s National’s research centers, each pushing the boundaries of pediatric healthcare:

  • Center for Cancer & Immunology Research (CCIR): Delivering on the promise of cell and gene therapies, offering innovative treatments for pediatric cancers and immune disorders.
  • Center for Genetic Medicine Research (CGMR): Advancing pediatric genetic medicine through interdisciplinary efforts, addressing complex genetic conditions with cutting-edge science.
  • Center for Neuroscience Research (CNR): A year of growth in scientific excellence, advancing the understanding of brain development and neurological conditions.
  • Center for Prenatal, Neonatal & Maternal Health Research (CPHNMR): Revolutionizing neonatal care with its pioneering infant brain health neuromonitoring program.
  • Center for Translational Research (CTR): Facilitating groundbreaking work by new K awardees and driving translational research to bridge the gap between discovery and clinical care.
  • Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation (SZI): Leading the way in advanced research projects in pediatric surgery, pushing technological boundaries to improve outcomes for children worldwide.

Taking the lead in innovation through collaboration

Innovation Ventures at Children’s National is advancing pediatric health security, addressing unique challenges with transformative solutions. Meanwhile, the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus (CNRIC) continues to thrive as a hub for discovery and collaboration, hosting conferences on topics like artificial intelligence in healthcare, cell and gene therapy, and pediatric epilepsy research.

A vision for the future

The report also highlights Children’s National’s focus on integrating cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence into its research and clinical practices, as well as addressing global health challenges such as the effects of climate change on children’s health. These efforts reflect the hospital’s commitment to improving outcomes for children everywhere through innovation, teamwork, and forward-thinking leadership.

The 2023-2024 Academic Annual Report serves as a testament to the dedication and expertise of the Children’s National community, showcasing how collaboration and innovation are shaping the future of pediatric healthcare.

Children’s National and Microsoft unite to reimagine pediatric care with AI

  • Posters at the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 31 poster session.

    Posters at the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 31 poster session.
  • Panelists discuss innovation during REI Week 2025.

    Panelists discuss innovation during REI Week 2025.
  • Global Health Initiative community engagement event during REI Week 2025.

    Global Health Initiative community engagement event during REI Week 2025.
  • Chris Rees presents his REI Week 2025 lecture.

    Chris Rees presents his REI Week 2025 lecture.
  • Nathan Kuppermann listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Tuesday, April 1, poster session.

    Nathan Kuppermann listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Tuesday, April 1, poster session.
  • Michelle Riley-Brown, Nathan Kuppermann, Catherine Bollard and Naomi Luban on stage during the REI Week 2025 awards ceremony.

    Michelle Riley-Brown, Nathan Kuppermann, Catherine Bollard and Naomi Luban on stage during the REI Week 2025 awards ceremony.
  • Brandy Salmon presents on innovation programs at Virginia Tech during the REI Week 2025 Innovation Day.

    Brandy Salmon presents on innovation programs at Virginia Tech during the REI Week 2025 Innovation Day.
  • Catherine Bollard listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 21 poster session.

    Catherine Bollard listens to a presenter during the REI Week 2025 Monday, March 21 poster session.
  • Ambroise Wonkman poses for a picture with Children’s National staff.

    Ambroise Wonkman poses for a picture with Children’s National staff.
  • Tanzeem Choudhury presenting during REI Week 2025.

    Tanzeem Choudhury presenting during REI Week 2025.

Children’s National Hospital is teaming up with Microsoft to harness the power of generative AI and revolutionize healthcare solutions. Over the course of an intensive two-day prototype session guided by Microsoft experts, Children’s National developers explored innovative use cases in predictive analytics, decision support, workflow automation, patient engagement and personalized medicine. This collaboration aims to enhance the quality and efficiency of care, ultimately improving outcomes for young patients.

What they’re saying

“We are empowering innovation at Children’s National through the synergy of human creativity and GenAI, we are on a journey to redefine what’s possible in pediatric healthcare,” said Alda Mizaku, VP & chief data and artificial intelligence officer at Children’s National.

“We’re proud to be part of Children’s National’s journey toward building a data-driven, innovative infrastructure. Recent strides, such as launching Children’s AI journey and piloting physician-led AI initiatives, underscore their commitment to delivering exceptional care through cutting-edge Microsoft solutions,” said Tyler Bryson, corporate vice president at Microsoft.

What was developed

Children’s National’s developers created the following GenAI Use Cases for the Rapid Prototype:

  • Use Case 1: Inpatient Stay Insights
    Create personalized summaries of hospital stays using AI. It analyzes clinical records and data to generate narratives for different personas, such as providers, coders, parents, patients and care managers.
  • Use Case 2: Next Best Action
    Proactive care by generating personalized recommendations for a patient’s continued care, streamlining care coordination, improving outcomes and enhancing communication between healthcare providers, care managers and patients.
  • Use Case 3: Beacon – Internal Policies and Procedures
    Beacon, a GenAI-powered assistant that chats with our internal knowledge base. It can answer questions and give information from our policies, procedures, manuals and other content.
  • Use Case 4: Personalized Medication Consultation
    Create a personalized medication consultation, aimed at enhancing the medication alert system through tailored alerts and guidance to providers, while taking into account patient’s clinical data and institutional patterns.

Reflecting on the development of these use cases, Children’s National hospitalist and chief informatics officer Jessica Herstek, M.D., said “We aim to develop scalable and sustainable solutions to everyday challenges in pediatric health care. For this prototype session, we brought together teams from across our organization with clinical, operational, and technical skills to test the possibilities and fallibilities of AI-enabled tools and explore how we can push ourselves and our technology partners to support the needs of our patients and families and the workflows of our doctors and nurses.”

Why is this exciting? What’s next?

Mizaku says this is a pivotal moment in Children’s journey towards revolutionizing pediatric healthcare. As we move forward, we commit to developing generative AI capabilities that are not only scalable and robust but also specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of our young patients. Our focus will be on practical applications that enhance care delivery while also improving efficiencies for our staff and internal teams.

A special thanks to our Microsoft partners: Tyler Bryson, Tyler Flatt, Jordan Lipp, Natalie Pearce, Todd Painter, Paul Fisher and Mahjabin Ahmed.

Children’s National Hospital participants: Catherine Pearcy, Nolen Morton, Brittany Duah, Ann Hoffman, Walter Buckner, Dr. Jessica Herstek, Ranjodh Badh, Geetanjali Vashist, Shivaram Muruga, Dr. Rachel Selekman, Dr. Paul Michel, Dr. Kenneth McKinley, Simmy King, Dr. Mihailo Kaplarevic, Aymen Mehai, Dr. Syed Anwar, Parida Abhijeet, Dr. Xinyang Liu, Andrew Maddox, Amy Quinn, Mike McLaughlin, Samm Sherman, Alda Mizaku, Shannon Cross, Shahzaib Ismail, Aric Campling, Frederick Zilmer, and Johnie Henry.

Winners announced in pediatric medical device competition focused on cardiology

winners of the pediatric medical device competitionSix medical technology innovators focused on pediatric cardiology were selected to receive grants of $50,000 each in the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!TM” competition in Toronto. The funds will help awardees bring their devices to the market and improve care for children with heart conditions.

The awardees, selected from a highly competitive field of ten finalists, are:

  • Bloom Standard, Minneapolis – Autonomous, hands-free ultrasound
  • Compremium AG, Bern, Switzerland – Noninvasive central venous pressure estimation for pediatric patients
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. – Polymeric auxetic stent to treat pediatric aortic coarctation
  • OxiWear, Arlington, Va. – Home measurement of oxygen levels in pediatric congenital heart disease
  • PyrAmes Inc., Cupertino, Calif. – Improved, wearable, noninvasive pediatric blood pressure monitor
  • Sibel Health, Chicago – Hospital-to-home monitoring for pediatric heart conditions

The competition is presented by the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI), a nonprofit consortium led by Children’s National Hospital and funded through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Additional Ventures, a nonprofit focused on accelerating research progress and improving clinical care for individuals born with single ventricle heart defects. Along with grant funding, awardees gain access to support services and technical expertise provided by APDI and Additional Ventures in areas that include engineering, regulatory, reimbursement, clinical trials study design and data science services.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40,000 children are born annually with a congenital heart defect. Children with heart conditions need 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. This competitive grant program is designed to identify and support the development and commercialization of devices addressing these needs.

“Congratulations to our awardees, whose innovative technologies show great promise in advancing care for pediatric heart patients,” said Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National and APDI program director and principal investigator. “We are thrilled to welcome this new cohort into our pediatric device accelerator, where they will have the opportunity to collaborate with clinician-scientists at Children’s National and connect to Additional Ventures’ network. Along with these collaborations, the awardees will benefit from a full range of APDI wraparound services designed to support the development of devices specifically for pediatric patients, helping them navigate the complex path to market.”

The competition was held in conjunction with the 12th Annual Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation, presented by Children’s National and co-located with The MedTech Conference powered by AdvaMed.  Focused on transforming pediatric care with exclusive innovations for children, this year’s symposium featured panel discussions and keynote presentations with leading experts in pediatrics and medical technology to exchange information and ideas on critical issues in pediatric device development and pediatric healthcare innovation gaps.

“Additional Ventures is thrilled to support this new class of innovators whose products will make a profound impact in the management and care of pediatric heart patients,” said Additional Ventures CEO Kristie Keller, Ph.D. “We welcome them to our growing community of inventors, researchers and clinicians, and we look forward to working together with our awarded teams and ADPI to bring these products to market. We hope that this competition both inspires and activates the community and brings much-needed new entrants and new ideas to pediatric-first device development.”

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

Novel ultrasound device gets FDA breakthrough designation with Children’s National support

The Bloom Standard device enables autonomous, hands-free ultrasound scans to be performed anywhere, by any user.

A novel ultrasound device developed by Bloom Standard received the Food and Drug Administration’s valued  breakthrough device designation with the help of Children’s National Hospital and support provided through an  FDA-funded grant that established the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI), formerly branded as the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI). The grant funding, clinical expertise and regulatory guidance demonstrate the hospital’s leadership in pediatric medical device innovation and its commitment to supporting critically needed advancements.

“In many ways, Children’s National has been a key resource as we continue this journey from concept to commercialization,” said Annamarie Saarinen, co-founder of Bloom Standard and the mother of an infant who was diagnosed with a critical heart defect days after her birth.

Why we’re excited

Children’s National Innovation Ventures and APDI leaders saw the value in the Bloom Standard innovation: a device that enables autonomous, hands-free ultrasound scans to be performed anywhere, by any user. The FDA granted the innovation its breakthrough device designation to help streamline the regulatory process so that patients and healthcare providers have more timely access to devices.

Bloom Standard can potentially save lives and improve outcomes for newborns and babies with cardiac and respiratory issues. The technology can eliminate the delay that often occurs for infants who need ultrasound imaging because their medical location lacks the technology. Bloom Standard’s portability and ease of use can potentially reduce mortality and poor outcomes tied to delayed detection of lung and cardiac conditions. It has potential cost savings, too.

Children’s National leads the way

Children’s National supported this novel medical technology for children by engaging in multiple steps through the regulatory process:

  • Grant funding: Bloom Standard participated in pediatric pitch competitions in 2020 and 2022 and each time, because of the merits of the device, was awarded grant funding that helped to support its progression.
  • Regulatory support: Children’s National pediatrician Francesca Joseph, M.D., brings a wealth of expertise navigating the FDA’s regulatory processes and currently service as co-investigator and core regulatory expert for the pediatric device consortium led by Children’s National. Saarinen called Dr. Joseph “an invaluable resource,” explaining that her input and support has been very significant in Bloom Standard’s understanding and navigation of FDA processes. “For a small device company like ours, she has been a lifeline,” Saarinen said.

Saarinen says she is grateful for the continuing relationship with Children’s National as her company enters its next phase on the journey to commercialization.

Children’s National Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, who directs the FDA-funded Alliance for Pediatric Device Development, says that nurturing and supporting life-saving technologies like Bloom Standard is important because the device addresses a dire unmet need in the pediatric space, especially in settings with fewer resources and in public health emergency situations. “Advancements in children’s medical devices continue to lag behind those of adults, and we must use our research and innovation infrastructure to help close that gap and to influence policy changes.”

Winners of the third annual Bear Institute PACK Event

Bear Institute PACK logoOracle Health and Children’s National Hospital, announced the winners of the third annual Bear Institute’s Pediatric Accelerator Challenge for Kids (Bear PACK), a start-up competition aimed at fostering digital health innovation for children. The winners — Bend Health Inc., Kismet Health, RareCareNow, and Thynk Inc. — were recognized across four innovation tracks for their efforts to improve child health outcomes, enhance the care experience for patients, family, and clinicians and reduce the cost of care for patients and health systems.

With more than 250 standalone pediatric hospitals in the U.S. today, there is a significant opportunity for technology startups focused on pediatric care to overcome unique funding and go-to-market challenges to more successfully build and sustain their businesses and have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of children and their families.

“Bear PACK targets the entire pediatric healthcare community to help close the gap in innovative solutions dedicated to helping children, said Jessica Herstek, M.D., chief medical information officer, Children’s National Hospital. “Together, Oracle Health and Children’s National Hospital are helping startups accelerate innovation and technology adoption by showcasing new products and connecting startups with pediatric healthcare providers and administrators.”

“With less than one percent of global digital health funding being allocated for children’s health1, the Bear PACK challenge has never felt more important or needed,” said Nasim Afsar, M.D., MBA, MHM, senior vice president and chief health officer, Oracle Health. “Working with Children’s National Hospital, we’re continuing to make meaningful progress on bringing more digital health solutions for kids to market, helping to improve pediatric patient experience and health outcomes globally.”

The 2023 winners in each category are:

  • Early-State Innovation: RareCareNow

Using a telehealth platform, RareCareNow is helping patients who have been diagnosed and are seeking treatment for rare and genomic diseases in the U.S. With molecular diagnostics integrated earlier in the care process, patients can more quickly identify and connect with a specialist using RareCareNow’s network of physicians providing care specific to their needs. Patients will not only receive genetic counseling and treatment plans but will have a long-term provider for ongoing care coordination and symptom management.

“Our goal is to reimagine how genomic medicine is practiced by bringing cutting edge molecular diagnostics into the care process earlier and then providing ongoing care and coordination for all patients so they can benefit from their genomic results. While we’re improving access to care for patients with genomic and rare diseases, we also aim to ease the uncertainty of the diagnosis and the diagnostic odyssey. By embracing telehealth and technology, we will enable patients and families to be more proactively involved in their own care.” — Alexander Katz, chief medical officer and co-founder, RareCareNow

Designed by and for providers, Kismet Health’s pediatric virtual care platform offers a digital playspace that allows clinicians to communicate with patients through their language of play, increasing overall patient engagement and effectiveness. Kismet’s collaborative care technology allows providers to bring healthcare access to families where and when they need it most, allowing for longitudinal care throughout the entire year and more equitable outcomes.

“It’s an honor to be selected for this innovative program with like-minded individuals who are also passionate about revolutionizing the future of pediatric healthcare. Kismet has launched with digital health companies and smaller clinics, with the goal now to integrate with EHRs like Oracle Health’s to expand to children’s hospitals, health systems, and government programs — ultimately meeting families where they are and closing the gap in care access.” — Christie Sander, co-founder, president and COO, Kismet Health

Thynk Inc. developed an immersive game designed to help children improve cognitive skills and overall mental wellness in a safe and fun environment. Youth play an adventure game on a mobile device while wearing a headset that uses proprietary EEG technology that reads brainwaves to determine their level of focused attention. This measured focus level also controls the speed and success of the in-game character as it completes various missions, and the difficulty level adjusts accordingly. With regular use, children can improve 13 cognitive skills including focused attention, impulse management, and develop their self-regulation skills, all of which are important for academic success and personal growth.

“Our product has proven lasting effects in improving focus and attention for children who may be struggling with such skills. The outcomes of eight successful clinical studies with more than 300 users of our product have shown improvements in behavior, test scores, homework completion, and math and reading fluency. In addition to teaming with healthcare organizations, we’re working to also reach underserved populations who may lack access to the tools needed to improve cognitive skills.” — Christopher Tracy, co-founder, board director and chief operating officer, Thynk Inc.

Bend Health designed a virtual mental health platform for kids and their families to increase access, reduce wait times, and decrease costs of pediatric mental healthcare. As the only provider using the Collaborative Care Model in partnership with pediatric primary care, Bend’s data-driven platform allows primary care providers to easily refer and connect patients with virtual therapists. They then receive regular updates on care progress, more closely aligning medical and behavioral care. Offering services such as coaching, therapy, and expedited psychiatric care, Bend integrates virtual video visits, chat messaging, and digital experiences to achieve better outcomes through measurement-based care. Collaborating with leading insurers, employers, health systems, and providing self-pay options, Bend Health ensures widespread accessibility to its services.

“At Bend Health, pediatricians receive regular patient progress updates, empowering them to make informed care decisions based on timely mental health measures. Bend’s collaborative care teams enable practitioners to accurately diagnose children and provide a holistic approach that consistently achieves clinically significant results for both kids and their families. Our six peer-reviewed studies demonstrate these positive outcomes, with 80% of kids showing improvement in 60-90 days, and 4 out of 5 caregivers reporting reduced stress within a month of joining Bend.” — Dr. Monika Roots, President and Co-Founder, Bend Health

More information on this year’s winners can be found on the Bear Institute PACK website.

1Children’s digital health innovation received less than 1% ($167 million) of global digital health funding ($22 billion) in 2020, according to StartUp Health’s annual report on digital health funding.

Earlier detection of cardiometabolic risk factors for kids may be possible through next generation biomarkers

doctor listening to child's heartbeat

The next generation of cardiometabolic biomarkers should pave the way for earlier detection of risk factors for conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in children.

American Heart Association statement finds potential future measures, reiterates importance of heart-healthy lifestyle from birth through adulthood.

The next generation of cardiometabolic biomarkers should pave the way for earlier detection of risk factors for conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in children, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in the journal Circulation.

“The rising number of children with major risk factors for cardiometabolic conditions represents a potential tsunami of preventable disease for our healthcare system,” says the statement’s lead author Michele Mietus-Snyder, M.D., a preventive cardiologist and clinical research scientist at Children’s National Hospital. “But by the time a child is identified based on today’s clinical biomarkers, it’s often too late to reverse the disease trajectory.”

The big picture

The scientific statement included biomarkers that met three criteria:

  • Early and precise clinical detection of metabolic abnormalities before a child begins to show the current clinical signs such as high body mass index (BMI), blood pressure or cholesterol.
  • Mechanistic intervention targets providing immediate risk measures and giving clinicians new targets to personalize and optimize interventions.
  • Modifiable biomarkers that are capable of tracking progression toward or away from cardiometabolic health.

The statement’s identified biomarkers included measures of:

  • Epigenetic, or environmental, factors
  • Gut microbiome health
  • Small particle metabolites in the body
  • Different types of lipids and their impacts on cell membranes
  • Inflammation and inflammatory mediators

The authors proposed these biomarkers with the goal of “expanding awareness to include a whole new realm of biomarkers that precede the traditional risk factors we currently rely upon, such as BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar,” says Mietus-Snyder. “Ideally, these new biomarkers will be added to the array of measures used in clinical research to better assess their value for earlier identification and prevention of global patterns of cardiometabolic health and risk.”

Why it matters

The next generation cardiometabolic biomarkers outlined by the authors are all currently used in research studies and would need to be validated for clinical use. However, Mietus-Snyder notes that the data already collected from these biomarkers in research can make a difference in clinical practice by enhancing our understanding of the deep metabolic roots for children at risk.

Evidence reviewed in the statement shows the risk factors children are exposed to, even before birth, can set the stage for cardiovascular and metabolic health across the lifespan.

Interestingly, all the different factors reviewed have been found to alter the functioning of the mitochondria — the complex organelles responsible for producing the energy for the body that every cell and organ system in turn needs to function. Every class of biomarkers reviewed is also favorably influenced by heart-healthy nutrition, a simple but powerful tool known to improve mitochondrial function.

What’s next

Even as the new so-called ‘omic’ biomarkers reviewed in this statement are developed for clinical applications, there are things clinicians can do to optimize them and improve mitochondrial function, according to Mietus-Snyder.

Most important is to strengthen the collective dedication of care providers to removing the barriers that prevent people, especially expecting mothers and children, from living heart-healthy lifestyles.

We have long known lifestyle factors influence health. Even as complicated metabolic reasons for this are worked out, families can reset their metabolism by decreasing sedentary time and increasing activity, getting better and screen-free sleep, and eating more real foods, especially vegetables, fruits and whole grains, rich in fiber and nutrients, with fewer added sugars, chemicals, preservatives and trans fats. Clinicians can work with their patients to set goals in these areas.

“We know diet and lifestyle are effective to some degree for everyone but terribly underutilized. As clinicians, we have compelling reasons to re-dedicate ourselves to advocating for healthy lifestyle interventions with the families we serve and finding ways to help them implement them as early as possible. The evidence shows the sooner we can intervene for cardiometabolic health, the better.”

NIH awards to address detection and treatment of HIV in adolescents

HIV virus

The funding will improve prevention, detection and treatment of HIV in adolescents.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded over $8 million to improve prevention, detection and treatment of HIV in adolescents through leveraging digital health for population-based screening in the emergency department (ED). The grants were awarded to multiple children’s hospitals, including Children’s National Hospital.

The big picture

The studies will play an important role in looking at how to curtail the HIV epidemic.

“This is an opportunity to make an impact on adolescent health and mitigate disparities,” said Monika Goyal, M.D., M.S.C.E., associate chief of Emergency Medicine and one of the main principal investigators of the awarded team.

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) are disproportionately affected by HIV in the United States. Despite adolescents accounting for over 20% of new infections, this age group is the least likely to be tested for HIV, linked to care and achieve viral suppression when compared to their adult counterparts. Further, AYA also have low rates of HIV awareness and initiation of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.

“There is an urgent need to expand HIV screening and prevention strategies to nontraditional healthcare settings, such as emergency departments, to reach those adolescents who would otherwise not receive preventive healthcare,” Dr. Goyal added.

Why does this work matter?

Although adolescents frequently use the ED for access to healthcare, the ED has been underutilized as a venue for HIV screening, detection and prevention.

“We hope to curtail the HIV epidemic in youth by expanding HIV prevention and linkage to care services through the emergency department,” Dr. Goyal says.

Footnote: The grants issued by the NICHD are NICHD R01 HD110321 and UM2 HD111102-ATN.

 

Bear Institute Pediatric Accelerator Challenge for Kids winners announced

Bear Institute PACK logoIn December 2022, the Bear Institute, along with Children’s National Hospital and Oracle Health, hosted the second annual Bear Institute PACK (Pediatric Accelerator Challenge for Kids), a start-up competition aimed to foster pediatric digital health innovation.

Bear Institute PACK is inclusive of the entire pediatric health care community and addresses the large disparity in digital health innovation funding dedicated to children versus the rest of the population. “We have to do more for children, a population that can’t advocate for itself,” says Matt Macvey, M.B.A., MS, executive vice president and chief information officer at Children’s National Hospital. “Bear Institute PACK is an all-hands effort to provide increased support to those start-ups trying to bring new solutions to market for kids.”

Start-ups share their innovations and receive valuable feedback from expert judges while competing for a chance to win an on-site pilot and software development support. The competition features three rounds of judging: an initial review of applications from the Bear Institute PACK team, judging from participating pediatric healthcare providers and administrators and review from an expert panel of judges during finalist start-ups’ live pitches. This year’s start-up participants competed across four innovation tracks in the following areas of development: Early-Stage Innovation, Concept Validation, Early Commercialization and Growth Trajectory.

This 2022 winners, in four innovation tracks, are:

  • Early-Stage Innovation (“Even the biggest ideas start small”) Winner: PigPug Health
    Its solution uses neurofeedback, a non-invasive approach to treating brain-related conditions, and artificial intelligence to help children with ADHD and autism become more socialized.
  • Concept Validation (“Now it’s time to test it”) Winner: Global Continence, Inc.
    Its Soluu™, Bedwetting Mitigation Device, helps rapidly and permanently mitigate bedwetting with a neuromodulation process.
  • Early Commercialization (“Countdown to launch”) Winner: PyrAmes Inc.
    Its solution Boppli™ provides continuous, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring and streams data via Bluetooth to a mobile device.
  • Growth Trajectory (“The investment is growing”) Winner: maro
    Its full stack child development kit equips a child’s caretakers (at home, school and clinic) with easy access to tools and data needed to help them navigate tough conversations including mental health, diversity, empathy, and puberty and helps identify mental health at-risk students in schools.

“I was very impressed with this year’s start-up participants and their caliber of talent and passion for what they do. The finalist judges were tasked with selecting one winner in each innovation track, but the work each participant is doing for kids makes them all winners,” says Rebecca Laborde, Ph.D., chief scientist, vice president of Health Innovation and Scientific Advisory, Oracle Health. “Thank you to the entire pediatric healthcare community that comes together to help make this event a success. We believe that by bringing together like-minded individuals with the same goals, we can make a real difference in pediatric healthcare.”

Five winners selected in prestigious pediatric device competition

The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) announced five awardees chosen in its prestigious “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition. Each received a share of $150,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with awards ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 to support the advancement of pediatric medical devices.

Consistent with its mission of addressing the most pressing pediatric device needs, this year’s competition, moderated by MedTech Innovator, welcomed medical device technologies that address the broad unmet needs of children. The pediatric pitch event was part of the 10th Annual Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation, co-located with the MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed.

This year’s pediatric device innovation awardees are:

  • CorInnova – Houston, TX – Minimally invasive biventricular non-blood contacting cardiac assist device to treat heart failure.
  • Innovation Lab – La Palma, CA – Mechanical elbow brace stabilizes tremors for pediatric ataxic cerebral palsy to improve the performance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
  • Prapela – Biddeford, ME – Prapela’s incubator pad is the first innovation to improve the treatment of apnea of prematurity in over twenty years.
  • Tympanogen – Richmond, VA – Perf-Fix replaces surgical eardrum repair with a nonsurgical clinic procedure
  • Xpan – Concord, Ont. – Xpan’s universal trocar enables safest and most dynamic access and effortless upsizing in conventional/mini/robotic procedures.

“We are delighted to recognize these five innovations with critical NCC-PDI funding that will support their journey to commercialization. Improving pediatric healthcare is not possible without forward-thinking companies that seek to address the most dire unmet needs in children’s health,” 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 know all too well how challenging it is to bring pediatric medical devices to market, which is why we have created this rich ecosystem to identify promising medical device technologies and incentivize investment. We congratulate this year’s winning innovators and applaud their efforts to help bridge these important care gaps that are impacting children.”

Empowering Innovators

NCC-PDI is one of five consortia in the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program created to support the development and commercialization of medical devices for children, which lags significantly behind the progress of adult medical devices. NCC-PDI is led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, with support from partners MedTech Innovator and design firm Archimedic.

A pediatric accelerator program, powered by MedTech Innovator, the largest medical device accelerator in the world, is a key part of the network of resources and experts that NCC-PDI provides in support of pediatric innovators. All five of this year’s competition finalists had an opportunity to participate in the year-long accelerator program.

To date, NCC-PDI has mentored 250 medical device projects to help advance their pediatric innovations throughout all stages of the total product life cycle (TPLC).

Eskandanian adds that supporting the progress of pediatric innovators is a key focus of the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, a one-of-its-kind ecosystem that drives discoveries that save and improve the lives of children. On a nearly 12-acre portion of the former, historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., Children’s National has combined its strengths with those of public and private partners, including industry, universities, federal agencies, start-up companies and academic medical centers. The campus provides a rich environment of public and private partners which, like the NCC-PDI network, will help bolster pediatric innovation and commercialization.

NCC PDI 2022 pitch competition winners

A total of $150K was awarded to five pediatric innovations during the medical device pitch competition at the 10th Annual Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation, hosted by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI). Award winners include (from left to right): Zaid Atto, founder and CEO at Xpan; John Konsin, CEO and co-founder of Prapela; Elaine Horn-Ranney, co-founder and CEO at Tympanogen; William Altman, CEO at CorInnova; and Sharief Taraman, pediatric neurologist at CHOC and University of California-Irvine partnering with Innovation Lab. (Photo credit: Children’s National Hospital)

AI may revolutionize rheumatic heart disease early diagnosis

echocardiogram

Researchers at Children’s National Hospital have created a new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that promises to be as successful at detecting early signs of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in color Doppler echocardiography clips as expert clinicians.

Researchers at Children’s National Hospital have created a new artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that promises to be as successful at detecting early signs of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in color Doppler echocardiography clips as expert clinicians. Even better, this novel model diagnoses this deadly heart condition from echocardiography images of varying quality — including from low-resource settings — a huge challenge that has delayed efforts to automate RHD diagnosis for children in these areas.

Why it matters

Current estimates are that 40.5 million people worldwide live with rheumatic heart disease, and that it kills 306,000 people every year. Most of those affected are children, adolescents and young adults under age 25.

Though widely eradicated in nations such as the United States, rheumatic fever remains prevalent in developing countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent studies have shown that, if detected soon enough, a regular dose of penicillin may slow the development and damage caused by RHD. But it has to be detected.

The hold-up in the field

Diagnosing RHD requires an ultrasound image of the heart, known as an echocardiogram. However, ultrasound in general is very variable as an imaging modality. It is full of texture and noise, making it one of the most challenging to interpret visually. Specialists undergo significant training to read them correctly. However, in areas where RHD is rampant, people who can successfully read these images are few and far between. Making matters worse, the devices used in these low resource settings have their own levels of varying quality, especially when compared to what is available in a well-resourced hospital elsewhere.

The research team hypothesized that a novel, automated deep learning-based method might detect successfully diagnose RHD, which would allow for more diagnoses in areas where specialists are limited. However, to date, machine learning has struggled the same way the human eye does with noisy ultrasound images.

Children’s National leads the way

Using approaches that led to successful objective digital biometric analysis software for non-invasive screening of genetic disease, researchers at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, including medical imaging scientist Pooneh Roshanitabrizi, Ph.D., and Marius Linguraru, D.Phil., M.A., M.Sc., principal investigator, partnered with clinicians from Children’s National Hospital, including Craig Sable, M.D., associate chief of Cardiology and director of Echocardiography, and cardiology fellow Kelsey Brown, M.D., who are heavily involved in efforts to research, improve treatments and ultimately eliminate the deadly impacts of RHD in children. The collaborators also included cardiac surgeons from the Uganda Heart Institute and cardiologists from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Dr. Linguraru’s team of AI and imaging scientists spent hours working with cardiologists, including Dr. Sable, to truly understand how they approach and assess RHD from echocardiograms. Building the tool based on that knowledge is why this tool stands apart from other efforts to use machine-learning for this purpose. Orienting the approach to the clinical steps of diagnosis is what led to the very first deep learning algorithm that diagnoses mild RHD with similar success to the specialists themselves. After the platform was built, 2,136 echocardiograms from 591 children treated at the Uganda Heart Institute fed the learning algorithm.

What’s next

The team will continue to collect data points based on clinical imaging data to refine and validate the tool. Ultimately, researchers will look for a way that the algorithm can work directly with ultrasound/echocardiogram machines. For example, the program might be run through an app that sits on top of an ultrasound device and works on the same platform to communicate directly with it, right in the clinic. By putting the two technologies together, care providers on the ground will be able to diagnose mild cases and prescribe prophylactic treatments like penicillin in one visit.

The first outcomes from the program were showcased in a presentation by Dr. Roshanitabrizi at one of the biggest and most prestigious medical imaging and AI computing meetings — the 25th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI).

Children’s National Innovation Day aims to advance pioneering pediatric life science projects

Healthcare icons

Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus’ Innovation Day will feature life science projects focused on improving pediatric care.

Pioneering life science projects focused on improving pediatric care will be on display at the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus when the hospital hosts its 2022 Innovation Day on Friday, August 26. Hosted by Children’s National Innovation Ventures, the program’s goal is to showcase life sciences and healthcare projects that are mature enough to look for a co-developer, strategic partner, investor or licensing vehicle.

“For us, a successful Innovation Day means we are able to match these entrepreneurs with the strategic partner they need at this stage of their device development journey,” says Kolaleh Eskandanian, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.M.P., vice president and chief innovation officer at Children’s National Hospital and executive director of the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation.

“Data continues to show that the national Capital Region (NCR) remains one of the most robust life sciences and technology hubs in the country with no shortage of visionary leaders. There is no better place to conduct this important work as we seek more ways to advance pediatric medical technologies to improve health outcomes.”

A total of 17 projects will be showcased at the event, with each having up to 10-minute window to make their presentation. All attendees will be provided a survey, enabling valuable feedback for presenters as they look to take their next strategic step on the pathway to further development and commercialization.

In addition to presenting projects, the 2022 Innovation Day will also feature startup companies whose mission is aligned with Children’s National’s quest to bring novel pediatric medical products to patients and families. Throughout the day, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the hospital’s researchers, academic entrepreneurs and prominent stakeholders in the life science and healthcare innovation ecosystem in the region. Interested investors and strategics can also request one-on-one meetings with startups and research teams.

Eskandanian, who also serves as the executive director of the FDA-funded National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI), notes that accelerating this pathway to commercialization for pediatric products will bring more viable technologies to market, an important step in addressing the ongoing development disparity in innovations developed for children versus adults.

“For too long, children have been left behind in the development and commercialization of medical products and we remain committed to altering the trend,” Eskandanian says. “Children’s National’s Innovation Ventures team is working closely with the presenting innovators to provide any and all support that we can to get these products to the next stage.”

Supporting the progress of pediatric innovators is a key focus of the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, a one-of-its-kind ecosystem that drives discoveries that save and improve the lives of children. On a nearly 12-acre portion of the former, historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., Children’s National has combined its strengths with those of public and private partners, including industry, universities, federal agencies, start-up companies and academic medical centers. The campus provides a rich environment of public and private partners which, like the NCC-PDI network, helps to bolster pediatric innovation and commercialization.

Pediatric medical device competition names finalists

Five finalists have been named in the prestigious annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition presented by the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI). Representing innovations in pediatric technologies that aim to address unmet medical needs for children, these five finalists now have access to a pediatric accelerator program led by MedTech Innovator and will compete for a share of $150,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the final virtual pitch event in October 2022. The pediatric pitch event is part of the 10th Annual Symposium on Pediatric Device Innovation, co-located with the MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed.

“Addressing unmet needs across pediatric populations is critical to advancing children’s health and we are delighted to once again work with pioneering companies that seek to bridge this care gap,” 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. “As an FDA-funded consortium, NCC-PDI serves as a critical device development resource, bringing together individuals and institutions that support viable pediatric innovations and create faster pathways to commercialization. We congratulate this year’s finalists and look forward to seeing the progress made in the coming months as they navigate the accelerator program.”

The following are the five pediatric device innovations that judges selected for the final competition:

  • CorInnova – Houston, TX – Minimally invasive biventricular non-blood contacting cardiac assist device to treat heart failure.
  • Innovation Lab – La Palma, CA – Mechanical elbow brace stabilizes tremors for pediatric ataxic cerebral palsy to improve the performance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
  • Prapela – Biddeford, ME – Prapela’s incubator pad is the first innovation to improve the treatment of apnea of prematurity in over twenty years.
  • Tympanogen – Richmond, VA – Perf-Fix replaces surgical eardrum repair with a nonsurgical clinic procedure
  • Xpan – Concord, Ont. – Xpan’s universal trocar enables safest and most dynamic access and effortless upsizing in conventional/mini/robotic procedures.

Beginning in June 2022, the five finalists will participate in a pediatric-focused track of the MedTech Innovator accelerator, the world’s largest accelerator of medical devices.

NCC-PDI is one of five consortia in the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program created to support the development and commercialization of medical devices for children, which lags significantly behind the progress of adult medical devices. NCC-PDI is led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, with support from partners MedTech Innovator, BioHealth Innovation and design firm Archimedic.

To date, NCC-PDI has mentored nearly 200 medical device sponsors to help advance their pediatric innovations, with 16 devices having received either their FDA market clearance or CE marking.

The accelerator program is the consortium’s latest addition to a network of resources and experts that it provides in support of pediatric innovators.

Eskandanian adds that supporting the progress of pediatric innovators is a key focus of the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, a one-of-its-kind ecosystem that drives discoveries that save and improve the lives of children. On a nearly 12-acre portion of the former, historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., Children’s National has combined its strengths with those of public and private partners, including industry, universities, federal agencies, start-up companies and academic medical centers. The campus provides a rich environment of public and private partners which, like the NCC-PDI network, will help bolster pediatric innovation and commercialization.

NCC-PDI Finalists social card

LIFU successfully delivers targeted therapies past the blood-brain barrier

illustration of the brain

LIFU offers doctors the first opportunity to open the blood-brain barrier and treat the entire malignant brain tumor.

Children’s National Hospital will leverage low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to deliver therapy directly to a child’s high-grade glioma. The approach offers doctors the first opportunity to open the blood-brain barrier and treat the entire malignant brain tumor.

Children’s National will be the first hospital in the U.S. to treat high-grade pediatric brain tumors with LIFU to disrupt the blood-brain barrier. Crossing it has been a major hurdle for effective therapy. The barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue, prevents harmful substances from reaching the brain but also stops molecular targeted therapy and immunotherapy from getting into the tumor site and staying there.

“LIFU gives us a way to potentially transiently open up the barrier, so we can deliver novel therapy directly to the tumor and improve the likelihood of survival,” said Roger Packer, M.D., senior vice president of the Center for Neurosciences and Behavioral Medicine at Children’s National. “It is the greatest breakthrough we’ve potentially had in the past 50 years or more for the management of these tumors. We made great strides in our understanding of molecular genetics and the molecular drivers of tumors, but we have not yet translated that knowledge into better therapies; this may be our most effective mechanism to overcome the barrier.”

In 2020, Children’s National was recognized as the first worldwide Center of Excellence by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a non-invasive therapeutic technology with the potential to transform the treatment of many medical disorders by using ultrasonic thermal energy to specifically target tissue deep in the body. The technology can treat without incisions or the need of radiation.

How it works

Doctors at Children’s National will be using LIFU in two different types of procedures:

  • 5-ALA: Doctors will give the patient 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) with the LIFU treatment. 5-ALA enters rapidly dividing cells and is activated by the ultrasound to a state where it kills the dividing cells of the tumor. The surrounding normal brain cells around the tumor are not dividing, so they do not take up the 5-ALA and are left unharmed after ultrasound therapy.
  • Microbubbles: While receiving different doses of LIFU over a one- to two-hour period, the patient is given “microbubbles,” which are widely used in medical imaging and as carriers for targeted drug delivery. These microbubbles bounce around against the walls like seltzer, opening the blood vessels and transiently opening that space.

Both studies are the first in the world for pediatric gliomas of the brain stem, allowing experts to treat patients 4-6 weeks after radiotherapy. The patient then receives medication orally or intravenously as it passes through the bloodstream. It does not go at high levels anywhere within the brain except where the blood-brain-barrier was opened, allowing oral medication or immune therapies to rush into the tumor.

The launch of this program comes a few months after the hospital successfully performed the first-ever high-intensity focused ultrasound surgery on a pediatric patient with neurofibromatosis.

Watch this video to learn more.

Addressing health equity issues through an app innovation competition

Children’s National Hospital launches The Health Equity in Research Hackathon — a team-based collaborative competition that empowers researchers to address health equity issues in the community through innovative apps. A panel of expert judges will select winning app ideas for full development, including finding grant opportunities, access to mentors and collaborators.

The big picture

“This Hackathon is a great chance for our research community to address larger issues related to advancing health equity within translational and clinical research,” said Patrick O’Keefe, administrative director for the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National (CTSI-CN). “We are thrilled to see how people collaborate to create solutions for big problems that have traditionally slowed research and contributed to the vast inequities in health we see today.”

Additional details

The 2022 hackathon will be a two-part event. During Part I, slated for June 17, participants will gather in diverse teams to discuss and refine the selected app ideas. They will learn from technical and scientific experts and brainstorm app-based approaches to address health equity.

Each team will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, and the winning app(s) will advance to Part II of the hackathon planned for Fall 2022, where app developers will build the selected apps.

“We encourage anyone at Children’s or George Washington University to submit an app idea – even if it is not fully formed — as long as they think it would help reduce health disparities through improving the research process,” said Lisa Guay-Woodford, M.D., director for Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Center for Translational Research at Children’s National. “We also hope researchers, staff and students who don’t have app ideas at this time will consider attending anyway to participate in the lively development process of the Hackathon.”

Anyone within the Children’s National and George Washington University research communities can submit an app idea for consideration. No app development experience is necessary to enter.

Why it matters

Health equity also means bringing the community into the research process. Thus, in part II, Children’s National will partner with high schools and universities in the area to incorporate voices who are often under-represented in the science and technology field.

“Our community is home to brilliant young minds at our local high schools and universities,” said Chaya Merrill, Dr.P.H., director for Child Health Data Lab at Children’s National. “We are excited to create an opportunity for them to work alongside experienced app builders – at the intersection of health equity and technology – by engaging in Part II of the Hackathon to build the winning apps!”

The hackathon will take place at Children’s Research and Innovation Campus in partnership with CTSI-CN and the Center for Translational Research.

The app idea submission deadline is on May 20, 2022, by 5pm. You may apply here. If you have questions about completing this submission, please email Patrick O’Keefe at pokeefe@childrensnational.org.

2022 Hackathon logo

Medical device pitch competition returns with $150K in FDA awards

Kolaleh-Eskandanian

“This pitch competition helps to recognize and support the advancement of innovations that can specifically address the needs of pediatric patients,” 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.

Recognizing the continued gap in the development and commercialization of medical devices for children versus adults, the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI), in collaboration with MedTech Innovator, is accepting applications through April 22, 2022, for its annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition. Recognizing the wide range of unmet needs for diagnostic and therapeutic devices designed especially for children, this year’s competition is open to any innovation in medical technology that addresses a significant unmet need in pediatric medical care.

“As one of the five FDA Pediatric Device Consortia, NCC-PDI is focused on seeking out and addressing significant unmet needs in pediatric medical technology,” 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. “While great advances are made in adult medical devices, children are often left behind because the pediatric market is small and there are not incentives to develop for pediatrics. This pitch competition helps to recognize and support the advancement of innovations that can specifically address the needs of pediatric patients.”

Using a virtual format, semi-finalists chosen from all submissions will make their first pitch on May 20, 2022. Up to six finalists selected from this first round will earn participation in a special pediatric-focused track of the MedTech Innovator accelerator program, the largest medical device accelerator in the world, beginning in June 2022. These innovators will then participate in the competition finals in the fall 2022 where judges will award up to $150,000 in FDA-sponsored grants to the devices selected as most impactful and commercially viable.

Unlike devices for adults, the development and commercialization of pediatric medical devices lags behind by approximately five to 10 years. Programs like the NCC-PDI pitch competition and MedTech Innovator accelerator program offer innovators access to expert insight and consultation to help overcome regulatory hurdles and advance the product’s development path.

NCC-PDI is one of five members in the FDA’s Pediatric Device Consortia Grant Program created to support the development and commercialization of medical devices for children. NCC-PDI is led by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National and the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland with support from partners MedTech Innovator, BioHealth Innovation and design firm Archimedic.

Eskandanian adds that supporting the progress of pediatric innovators is a key focus of the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus, a one-of-its-kind ecosystem that drives discoveries that save and improve the lives of children. On a nearly 12-acre portion of the former, historic Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington, D.C., Children’s National has combined its strengths with those of public and private partners, including industry, universities, federal agencies, start-up companies and academic medical centers. The campus provides a rich environment of public and private partners which, like the NCC-PDI network, will help bolster pediatric innovation and commercialization.

NCC-PDI announcement

Applications for the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition are open now through April 22 for innovations that address unmet pediatric needs.

 

Q&A with Pediatric Surgical Innovation Fellow Jacob Smith, M.D.

Jacob Smith

Jacob Smith, M.D.

Jacob Smith, M.D. is currently a fellow with The Joseph E. Robert, Jr. Fellowship in Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Hospital. The fellowship provides is an exciting and dynamic post-graduate research experience focused on biomedical innovation. Participants can focus their work on specific areas of interest. Here, Dr. Smith shares some information on his work with the Urology Department.

Q: How has the Joseph E. Robert, Jr., Fellows in Pediatric Surgical Innovation program allowed you to expand your experience in pediatric urology?

A: The Roberts Fellow program has provided me the ability to work with Michael Hsieh, M.D., who has years of experience in UTI and schistosomiasis research. The UTI research has been a focus of mine and we are working on ways to diagnosis and treat UTI faster in patients. One population that this can benefit are those that deal with recurrent UTIs, such as patients in our spina bifida population.

Q: Talk a little about your work on spina bifida and areas of opportunity for research.

A: Briony Varda, M.D. is heavily involved in our spina bifida program here at Children’s National. I am working with Dr. Varda to develop a database that looks at the use of the emergency department (ED) by children with spina bifida in the Washington, D.C. area. We are also conducting interviews with families and other stakeholders in this population to better understand the factors that drive this population to utilize the ED. We hope that this research can give us a better understanding of the spina bifida care in our area and inform us to provide improvement in care.

Q: How will your work to develop methods to diagnose urinary tract infections faster and how will this benefit our patient population?

A: As mentioned before, a common patient population that deals with recurrent UTIs is the spina bifida population. The protocol that we are attempting to develop would provide us quicker results than the standard urine culture and sensitivity testing that can take anywhere between 48-72 hours to result on average. We hope by providing a quicker result, we can better identify the necessary treatment these patients need to treat their infections. Another scenario that we hope this can be utilized in is for those patients that have recurrent UTI symptoms but negative urine cultures. We hope we can determine if there are viable cells that may be too few to culture but still could cause these symptoms.

Q: What are you currently working on that you are most excited about?

A: As you can tell, a lot of my research is conducted around the spina bifida population. I am excited to dive into the data we have collected on this population and determine if there are ways we could improve the care of these patients.

Q: What made you interested in specializing in pediatric urology?

A: Pediatric urology is a great field. It has a very diverse patient population. There are a multitude of problems that could arise from multiple congenital malformations to stones and voiding dysfunctions. There is also a range of cases from minor and major reconstruction, robotics, endourology and laparoscopy. One thing that does differentiate pediatric urology is that many of the problems that we repair are congenital and it is a privilege to be able to help these children and families. In fact, I was a patient myself as a child with a ureteral malformation which required surgery. The concept of helping other children with urology concerns brings an obvious “pay-it-forward” mentality that also attracted me to the field. I am excited to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to treat my future patients.

Children’s National uses HIFU to perform first ever non-invasive brain tumor procedure

MRI Room

Children’s National Hospital successfully performed the first-ever high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) procedure on a pediatric patient with neurofibromatosis (NF). This is the youngest patient to undergo HIFU treatment in the world. Image provided by Insightec.

Children’s National Hospital successfully performed the first-ever high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) procedure on a pediatric patient with neurofibromatosis (NF). This is the youngest patient to undergo HIFU treatment in the world. The advancement of children’s medical devices in the U.S. continues to significantly lag behind adult devices. This is why this milestone marks a significant advance in making pediatric surgery more precise and less invasive.

The hospital is offering this treatment to patients under an ongoing research clinical trial. Children’s National is one of the first pediatric hospitals in the nation to use HIFU for neuro-oncology patients. It’s also the first hospital in the world to use it to treat a pediatric patient with NF. NF is a condition that occurs in approximately 1 in 3,500 births and causes tumors to form in the brain, spinal cord and nerves.

“Using HIFU to treat our pediatric patients is a quantum leap towards non-invasive surgery for kids,” said Robert Keating, M.D., division chief of Neurosurgery and co-director of the HIFU program at Children’s National. “It’s exciting because the future is now here and it’s significantly better for our kids, in terms of non-invasive surgery with lower risk of complications and no exposure to radiation.”

Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a non-invasive therapeutic technology with the potential to transform the treatment of many medical disorders by using ultrasonic thermal energy to specifically target tissue deep in the body. The technology can treat without incisions or the need of radiation.

FUS, which has been used for adult clinical trials for many decades, can be delivered through high- or low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU). HIFU uses non-invasive therapy that uses focused ultrasound waves to thermally ablate a focal area of tissue. Children’s National will now use HIFU to treat low-grade type tumors located in difficult locations of the brain, such as hypothalamic hamartomas and pilocytic astrocytoma, as well as for movement disorders and epilepsy.

An alternative approach, LIFU uses lower levels of energy to disrupt the blood-brain barrier. Unlike medications, which often have difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier, LIFU can transiently open the blood-brain barrier to chemotherapy. This may allow more effective treatment of tumors and offer opportunities to treat, for the first time, the entire extent of a malignant brain tumor.

“Having focused ultrasound technology as a tool and conducting clinical trials will allow our neurologists and oncologists to offer a non-invasive treatment option to many patients who suffer from neurological conditions,” said Hasan Syed, M.D., co-director of the HIFU program at Children’s National. “The milestone of performing this first HIFU procedure will lead the way to better understanding of the effect of this technology and provide patients with more options.”

At Children’s National, the HIFU program is being led by Dr. Keating and a multidisciplinary team, including clinicians and investigators from the Sheik Zayed Institute for Pediatric Innovationradiologyoncologysurgery and orthopedics. In an effort to collaborate with the region’s adult hospitals, Children’s National will also treat adult patients on a selective basis who have movement disorders such as essential tremor and Parkinson’s. There is a scarcity of similar resources in the metro region. Many adult patients face one-year wait periods for treatment of their movement disorders, requiring many to travel out of state for treatment.

The LIFU program is scheduled to be operational in 2022. It will likely be the first in the U.S. to treat high-grade pediatric brain tumors with disruption of the blood-brain barrier and provide more effective routes for chemotherapy as well as potential immunotherapy and molecular approaches.

“The use of LIFU with microbubbles to open up the blood-brain barrier is an exciting, potentially game-changing approach for children with these tumors,” said Roger Packer, M.D., senior vice president of the Center for Neurosciences and Behavioral Medicine at Children’s National. “It should safely allow the blood-brain barrier to open and allow delivery of potentially life-saving personalized therapy to the tumor and spare the rest of the brain. It is the most exciting, new development in brain tumor therapy for these malignant midline tumors in the past 50 years.”

Children’s National continues to be a leader in pediatric HIFU use. In 2015, Children’s National doctors became the first in the U.S. to use MR-HIFU to treat pediatric osteoid osteoma – a benign, but painful bone tumor. Successful clinical trial results led to FDA approval in early 2021 for the use of the technology for this treatment. In 2020, the Focused Ultrasound Foundation also designated Children’s National as the first global pediatric Center of Excellence for using this technology to help patients with specific types of childhood tumors.

Kids’ headaches can be disruptive. We need solutions.

Experts leading the Headache Program at Children’s National Hospital recognize how common these disorders are. They also know how disruptive they can be in the day-to-day of children.

Marc DiSabella, D.O., is the director of the program. He is currently leading five pediatric headache trials. In this Q&A, he tells us about the ongoing trials, offering insight into innovative solutions and how he’s carving a new path to improve the quality of life of his patients.

Q: How has your team advised other neurologists on innovative care for patients with headaches that have been refractory to medicines?

A: We receive referrals from outside institutions when they need additional input for diagnostic and management options. We receive patient consult requests from around the country – and sometimes out of the country – to help improve symptoms. In most instances, these headaches tend to be difficult to control and do not respond to available medications. We really try to take a holistic approach to their care, and use treatments in parallel. For example, diagnostic, lifestyle techniques, medications, pain focused cognitive behavioral therapy and physical therapy. We also use complementary medicine as needed, such as acupuncture, injections and infusions.

Q: It is unusual for neurology divisions to run multiple pediatric trials focused on headaches. You are currently leading five that are open. How does this work move the field forward?

A: The medications we offer through our trials allow us to offer treatments that would otherwise not be available to pediatric patients. We do this in hopes of providing them relief while advancing the field. We are hopeful that these new therapies are as effective in pediatrics as they have shown to be in adults. But it is necessary to complete randomized clinical trials to prove this is the case. Historically, pediatric patients in clinical trials investigating painful conditions like migraines have had a disproportionately high placebo response rate. This means even the patients receiving a benign placebo have a high chance of symptom improvement. The newer medications show much better tolerability to the drugs used historically.

Q: What excites you about this work?

A: Pediatric pain disorders are unbelievably gratifying to treat because we take a mysterious disorder that waxes and wanes with no clear reason and give patients back control of their lives. It is extremely frustrating for a patient and their family to know that their day-to-day life can be abruptly derailed by a pain crisis. We work to provide them with several tools they can use daily to take back their lives.

Q: How is this work unique?

A: Our program was created organically over the years through our experiences with our patients. First, we noticed the disruption to patients’ personal and school performance from having untreated pain and recognized the need for pain psychology. Then, we expanded to have physical therapy to recondition patients and perform desensitization. Finally, we recognized our patients need additional medication options not offered through the standard of care. So, we expanded to open our various clinical trials, including those with pharma and internal protocols. As a result, we incorporated the use of Botox injections, for example, and soon will use a novel remote electro-neuromodulatory device.

Autonomous robotic laparoscopic surgery for intestinal anastomosis

surgeon doing laparoscopic surgery

Children’s National Hospital in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Johns Hopkins University developed an enhanced autonomous strategy for laparoscopic soft tissue surgery.

A new approach to soft tissue surgery could simplify autonomous surgical planning and enable collaborative surgery between an autonomous robot and human, a new study published in Science Robotics finds. This is the first time a robot can complete an autonomous soft tissue surgical task under laparoscopic conditions, forming the foundation for future soft tissue surgeries.

Children’s National Hospital in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Johns Hopkins University developed an enhanced autonomous strategy for laparoscopic soft tissue surgery. The multi-institutional effort made it possible to perform a robotic laparoscopic small bowel anastomosis in phantom and in vivo intestinal tissues. The findings further suggest that autonomous robot-assisted surgery has the potential to provide more efficacy, safety and consistency independent of an individual surgeon’s skill and experience.

The hold-up in the field

Autonomous anastomosis is known to be a challenging soft tissue surgery task. And in the laparoscopic setting, surgeries like these prove to be more challenging because of the need for high maneuverability and repeatability under motion and vision constraints – especially in pediatric patients.

“This work represents the first time autonomous soft tissue surgery has been performed using a laparoscopic technique and is the first step in bridging the gap between human and machine towards completing autonomous surgical tasks in soft tissue surgeries,” says Hamed Saeidi, Ph.D., assistant professor at University of North Carolina Wilmington and lead author of the study.

To overcome the unpredictable motions of the tissue, the experts used machine learning based techniques to track the dynamic motions of the soft tissue during the surgery. These methods also pave the way for markerless methods for tracking the tissue motion in future surgeries.

“Until now, laparoscopic autonomous surgeries were not possible in soft tissue due to the unpredictable motions of the tissue and limitations on the size and capabilities of surgical tools,” says Justin Opfermann, M.S., Ph.D., student and Johns Hopkins University and co-author.

What’s unique

Performing autonomous surgery would require the development of novel suturing tools, imaging systems and robotic controls to visualize a surgical scene, generate an optimized surgical plan and then execute that surgical plan with the highest precision.

The autonomous robot takes its skill one step further when performing surgical tasks on soft tissues by enabling a robot-human collaboration to complete more complicated surgical tasks where preoperative planning is not possible.

Additionally, the robot used in this work uses a novel shared control scheme called “conditional autonomy,” whereby the robot performs the majority of the surgical task, which the surgeon oversees.

Bottom line

“Combining all of these features into a single system is non-trivial,” Opfermann adds. “In 2016, we were the first group to demonstrate feasibility of semi-autonomous small bowel anastomosis with a robot in soft tissue, and now we can perform autonomous laparoscopic anastomosis.”

The resulting anastomosis had more consistency and achieved higher burst strength than surgeons suturing with manual technique, resulting in less anastomotic leak.

In laparoscopic surgeries – and pediatric patients especially – these challenges are even more difficult due to the small size of the patient. Robotic anastomosis is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill.

“As a surgeon, I can attest to the potential benefits of improving how we perform surgery on our patients,” says Michael Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., director of Transitional Urology at Children’s National Hospital. “Working with my engineering colleagues at Johns Hopkins, we’ve been able to develop prototypes of supervised, autonomous suturing robots that may be a step towards such improvements.”