Up to one-third of the more than 600,000 premature infants born in the U.S. each year have feeding problems because their brains can't coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing. KC BioMediX, a start-up medical-device company in Shawnee, Kans., (kcbiomedix.com) devised a computerized pacifier called the NTrainer System. The pacifier tip pulsates gently, converting disorganized sucking patterns to more useful actions.

While developing the device, the company worked with a third-party firm to write custom embedded software. But high costs soon had KC BioMediX bringing development in-house. LabView software and CompactRIO programmable controllers from National Instruments Corp., Austin, Tex., (ni.com), let the company take only three weeks to develop a proof-of-concept for hardware to replace the custom embedded effort. The company estimates this cut development costs by $250,000. In addition, it says development time plummeted from the budgeted four months because the software eliminated the need to create control software and drivers.