Rewriting the Rules of Pediatric Lumbar Puncture

What if one of pediatrics' most common emergency procedures hasn't meaningfully evolved in over a century? In this episode of Med Tech Gurus, we sit down with Bob Cooper, CEO of SMoLTAP, to explore how a simple but powerful positioning innovation is transforming infant lumbar punctures. For decades, pediatric spinal taps have relied on manual restraint, inconsistent positioning, and high failure rates—often leading to repeat attempts, unnecessary hospital admissions, and increased stress for clinicians and families. SMoLTAP's positioning cradle stabilizes infants in a consistent seated posture, improving first-stick success rates, reducing procedural time, and minimizing the need for sedation. Bob shares the origin story—from a frustrating clinical moment at Brown University to adoption in over 100 hospitals—and dives into the realities of pediatric medical device commercialization. We explore specialty distribution strategies, navigating value analysis committees, building ROI calculators, and scaling capital-efficiently in a challenging healthcare market. This episode is a powerful example of how human-centered design, operational insight, and disciplined execution can change the standard of care.