OBJECTIVES: To preliminary assess the economic impact of CareToy, the innovative technological smart modular system for early intervention (EI) in preterm infants at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. The incidence of preterm births (before than 37 weeks of gestational age) has increased and survival rates in very preterm infants have improved over the past two decades. EI has been used in the clinical setting with the aim of improving the overall outcome for preterm infants and the CareToy project – funded by the European Commission within the FP7 – has developed and validated the CareToy system as a new technological tool for an intensive, individualized, home-based and family-centred EI in preterm infants. METHODS: A decision model was developed in order to assess the likely cost-effectiveness of the innovative tele-rehabilitation system in comparison with the Standard of Care (SoC) to treat preterm infants at risk from a neurodevelopmental perspective. In addition to the data collected by the Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) study within the CareToy project, a structured search was carried out to identify evidence of relevant facts concerning clinical outcomes, costs and effectiveness in order to populate the entire model. It should be stressed that a small amount of literature evidence on current treatments in the EI field was to date available. RESULTS: The decision model provided the tools to measure the innovation of the CareToy system in health economic terms. CONCLUSIONS: An advantageous collaboration among technology developers, physicians and assessors of innovations is essential for improving the efficiency of taking innovative biomedical technologies through the Early Health Technology Assessment (EHTA) process and into adoption in the healthcare practice.