Global Pediatric Surgical Technology and Education Project (GP STEP) has partnered with medical device manufacturer SunMed to distribute affordable surgical equipment to pediatric surgeons around the world.
Image: GPSTEP partners with SunMed. Brit adopts aerial imagery for claims service. Photo: Courtesy of rawpixel/Pixabay
GP STEP’s founders, Dr. Philip Frykman, a pediatric surgeon, and Dr. Keith Kimble, a pediatric anesthesiologist, saw the need for a simple, affordable surgical device while participating in medical missions in China. Using advanced surgical equipment that is often difficult to obtain in China, they performed dozens of corrective surgeries on orphan children with life-threatening anorectal malformations (ARM). This led them to develop an inexpensive and simple surgical tool that could perform the crucial functions of the surgery for a fraction of the cost of the state-of-the-art equipment. The device has since enabled local surgeons to perform surgery on tens of thousands of children who would have otherwise gone without.
The device known as the “Frykman-Kimble Stimulator” was invented by Drs. Frykman and Kimble while working at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures provided key support and indispensable resources to enable GP STEP to develop the partnership with SunMed.
GP STEP now has the resources, partnerships, and organizational structure needed for researching, developing, and deploying new technology across several continents. The nonprofit also provides side-by-side training in new surgical tools and methods and instructional videos for surgeons around the world.
GP STEP’s alliance with SunMed, facilitated by global law firm Nixon Peabody will result in wider availability of the device to hospitals and pediatric surgeons, both in developed countries and the developing world. Royalties generated from sales of the device will support GP STEP’s donation of devices, training of clinicians, and development of innovative, low-cost devices for pediatric surgeons to help children thrive.
Source: Company Press Release