[Image courtesy of Children’s National Health System]
Children’s National Health System — BabySteps
Washington, D.C.
Clubfoot — in which a baby’s foot or feet are twisted out of position —is a fairly common birth defect that doctors try to treat soon after birth, according to Mayo Clinic. Surgery usually isn’t needed for successful treatment.
Instead, the present standard of care involves the Ponseti method of serial casting. The outcomes from the casts, however, can vary depending on which physician is doing them. A cast saw is also needed to remove casts, and the casts hinder parents’ care of their children, from bathing to diapers, Dr. Anuradha Dayal of Children’s National Medical Center explained during his presentation at NCC-PDI’s “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition.
“This product brings the new age of technology to a patient population that has seen minimal changes to treatment options in past decades. Led by a passionate team, BabySteps provides an individualized approach to clubfoot correction by incorporating 3D printing into the standard serial casting. The serial, individualized approach is what set this product apart from the current standard of care,” Jenell Robinson, MSN, RN, VP of clinical value and provider relations at MedTech Innovator, said.
The BabySteps technology is a 3D printed serial casting system to solve some of the problems involving casting.
Along with Dayal, the BabySteps team includes Dr. Benjamin Marti at Children’s National – Main Hospital and Kevin Cleary, PhD, at the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National.
