Ostiio is a Philadelphia medical device startup that’s just a few months old but has big ambitions: improving the quality of life for children with craniofacial defects, such as craniosynostosis and defects in the midface or lower jaw.

The company was part of an entourage of technology entrepreneurs from Philadelphia through the Penn Center for Innovation and Amplify Philly at the SXSW conference in Austin this week.

Craniosynostosis is a condition in which one or more of the joints between an infant’s skull prematurely fuse before the brain is fully formed. The condition results in a misshapen head because the brain continues to grow, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website. It affects one in every 2,000 to 3,000 infants.

Ostiio was cofounded by Ari Wes, a medical student at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and Dr. Jesse Taylor, a plastic surgeon at Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The startup is based at the Penn Center for Innovation. Wes talked about the company’s work in an interview with MedCity News.

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