Laryngeal mask airway device with airway tube having flattened outer circumference and elliptical inner airway passage

Abstract

The disclosed laryngeal mask airway device includes an inflatable cuff and an airway tube. The inflatable cuff defines a central opening at least when inflated. The cuff is insertable through a mouth of a patient to an inserted location within the patient. The cuff surrounds a glottic opening of the patient when the cuff is inflated and at the inserted location. The airway tube extends from a proximal end to a distal end. The airway tube defines an internal passage, an anterior portion, a posterior portion, a left portion, and a right portion. An airway passage extends from the proximal end of the tube through the internal passage to the glottic opening when the cuff is inflated and at the inserted location. The anterior portion is characterized by a thinner wall thickness than the left and right portions. The posterior portion is characterized by a thinner wall thickness than the left and right portions.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE SECTION [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 348,813, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,948, filed Jan. 22, 2003.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a laryngeal mask airway device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved airway tube for use with such devices. [0003] The laryngeal mask airway device is a well known device that is useful for establishing airways in unconscious patients. Such devices have been in use for about thirteen years and offer an alternative to the older, even better known, endotracheal tube. For at least seventy years, endotracheal tubes comprising a long slender tube with an inflatable balloon disposed at the tube's distal end have been used for establishing airways in unconscious patients. In operation, the endotracheal tube's distal end is inserted through the mouth of the patient, past the patient's laryngeal inlet (or glottic opening), and into the pa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020] The tube geometry advantageously reduces forces applied by the device to the patient when the device is inserted within a patient. The tube geometry al

Problems solved by technology

Although they have been enormously successful, endotracheal tubes suffer from several major disadvantages.

The principal disadvantage of the endotracheal tube relates to the difficulty of properly inserting the tube.

Also, even for skilled practitioners, insertion of an endotracheal tube is sometimes difficult or not possible.

In many instances, the difficulty of inserting endotracheal tubes has tragically led to the death of a patient because it was not possible to establish an airway in the patient with sufficient rapidity.

In addition to this principal disadvantage, there are also other disadvantages associated with endotracheal tubes.

For example, intubation with an endotracheal tube often causes patients to suffer from severe “sore throats.” The “sore throat” is principally caused by friction between the tube and the notch between the patient's arytenoid cartilages.

Another disadvantage is that patients can not cough effectively while intubated with an endotrach

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