Kids are sick and need medication. Yet pediatricians encounter difficulties in providing them to children since the medical equipment they need were built for adults. Often times the doctors will improvise. Doctors and families are pushing for pint-sized medical devices that will cater and fit to children.
Dr. Matthew Oetgen, chief of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at Children's National Health System, in agreement says," It affects patient care. We need to find a resolution." The Washington hospital led a grants competition to propose the creation of innovative medical devices for children.
The institution petitions for specifically developed kid's medical devices. In the previous years, some adult devices were makeshift for children's use. In 2013, eight of the 38 higher-risk devices FDA were classified for younger patients' use (younger than 22). In 2014, six of 33 devices were used for children's medical care.
Dr. Charles Berul, co-director of Children's National Heart Institute stated, "Consider pacemakers. Children account for only about 1 percent of pacemaker implants," Pacemaker for adults are important especially for those who are suffering from heart ailments. It is very critical in saving children's lives yet difficulties might occur by only using the improvised ones. Berul expounded, "Adults typically have a pacemaker's electrical leads, or wires, easily threaded into the heart through a vein, but babies require open-chest surgery attaching them to the outside of the heart."
Mini wireless pacemakers are being designed for adult patients. Dr. Berul is hoping that if it would succeed, it could also be used by the children. Doctors are proud of the triumph seen for the past years. On 2011, The Berlin Heart child-sized implantable pump was consented through a special FDA program. This aims to support children live while waiting for a heart transplant. Another success was witnessed recently when The OrthoPediatrics Corp. of Warsaw, Indiana, came up with a device to fix a knee injury, a torn ACL, without harming a child's still-growing bones. Both parents and doctors are hoping for more approval on specifically created devices for children in the years to come.
