Ras Labs, Quincy, Massachusetts, a developer of a polymer-based material that contracts or expands like muscle in response to low-voltage electricity, is one of three companies to receive $25,000 in seed money from the Philadelphia Pediatric Medical Device Consortium (PPDC). Ras Labs will use the funds to develop medical devices for children; the company’s biomimetic device, which is early in development, could be used to improve the socket interface of pediatric prostheses to provide a better fit. Ras Labs was founded in 2003 by the material’s inventor, Lenore Rasmussen, PhD, COB, CTO.
PPDC is funded by a September 2013 five-year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with six other pediatric device consortia, and is based at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. PPDC seed money is to help innovators translate promising ideas into commercial medical devices for use in children.
