UCSF Pediatric Surgery is dedicated to innovation and the develeopment of new pediatric devices. A pediatric device can be anything from a band-aid to a surgical implant. Many devices are “scaled down” for children. Our mandate is to work towards developing devices that are created specifically for the benefit of children. Historically, pharmaceuticals as well as adult surgical and medical devices have far overshadowed the development and commercialization of pediatric devices. Granted, the pediatric markets are smaller, but the need is just as great. Pediatric devices should not, in general, be considered as scaled down approved devices for adults.
Boosted by an FDA grant led by Dr. Michael Harrison (Harrison Lab | View Bio) that named UCSF one of three Pediatric Device Consortium centers, our group has leveraged the long-standing history of clinical innovation at UCSF and biotech innovations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area to become one of the world's leading groups for development of orphan devices for pediatric diseases. In addition, our use of other experimental technologies continues to push fetal intervention in new directions that go well beyond traditional surgical methods: microsurgical fetoscopy, three-dimensional image-guided sampling and manipulation using sonography and MRI, videoendoscopic techniques using virtual reality and robotic manipulation, placental vessel catheterization for stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, and microsurgical techniques for gene, cell, and organ transplantation.