Wayne State University, the University of Basel and the Advanced Platform Technology Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center announced that a collaborative research team from their universities is one of five winners of the Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children's Hospital and the Boston Pediatric Device Consortium Boston Pediatric Device Strategic Partner Challenge. The program is designed to advance the development of novel pediatric medical device innovations.
The team received a $50,000 award to advance the Smart Artificial Urinary Sphincter. The device aims to prevent urethra erosion and urinary incontinence. Along with the funding, the team will receive mentorship opportunities with leading medical device strategic partners.
A full list of IDHA and BPDC Challenge strategic partners can be found at the challenge website.
The team consists of Nivedita Dhar, M.D., assistant professor of Urology at Wayne State University School of Medicine; Jeremy Rickli, Ph.D., assistant professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Wayne State University; Tino Töpper, Ph.D., research associate, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel; Bekim Osmani, Ph.D., research associate, Biomaterials Science Center, University of Basel; Bert Müller, Ph.D., professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel; and Steve Majerus, Ph.D., investigator, Advanced Platform Technology Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.
The BPDC and strategic partners reviewed 60 applications from the United States and other countries, spanning diverse clinical areas from cardiovascular and critical care/monitoring to pulmonology and urology, and all stages of development. Selected companies were invited to Boston in December to pitch their device to a panel of clinical, business and technology experts, and strategic partner representatives.
"This project aims to create a more effective stress urinary incontinence solution, called the Smart Artificial Urinary Sphincter," said Joan Dunbar, associate vice president for Technology Commercialization at Wayne State University. "Current devices have multiple failures, and this project aims to create a device that will have an adaptive control algorithm capable of self-adaptation to the urethral morphology. The project received funding from Wayne State's Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization program recently, and this additional funding and mentorship will assist in advancing its development further."
"We have a major unmet need for pediatric medical devices that are specifically designed to address the demands of a growing, active child," said Pedro del Nido, M.D., leader of the BPDC and chief of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital. "The Boston Pediatric Device Strategic Partner Challenge winners represent innovations that are addressing these unmet medical needs. Together with our partners, we are pleased to support these teams as they work toward accelerating their technologies from concept to market."
The challenge was funded by the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Orphan Products Development through a grant to the Boston Pediatric Device Consortium. Per FDA guidelines, winning organizations cannot receive more than $50,000. More information, including the application and detailed review criteria for the challenge, can be found at bostonpdc.org.