Nasal airway management device

Abstract

An airway management device including a hollow flexible tube. The tube defines a lumen extending between a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is configured to be coupled to a ventilator and / or anesthesia circuit. An opening is provided at or near the distal end to allow passage of air and / or anesthesia therethrough. The tube is configured to be expanded radially after insertion through a patient's nasopharyngeal passageway when the distal end of the tube is positioned proximate the patient's hypopharynx. The device may include an inflatable outer sleeve surrounding and extending along the length of the tube. When the outer sleeve is in a deflated state, the distal end of the tube may be inserted through a patient's nasopharyngeal passageway. When the distal end of the tube is positioned proximate the patient's hypopharynx, the outer sleeve may be inflated and expanded. The device may include an inflatable cuff attached at or near the distal end of the tube and including an opening fluidly coupled with the opening and lumen of the tube to allow passage of air and / or anesthesia therethrough. When in a deflated state, the inflatable cuff may be inserted through the patient's nasopharyngeal passageway. When in an inflated state, the inflatable cuff may expand to form a seal around the patient's supraglottic laryngeal inlet. An intermediate inflatable cuff having a larger diameter than other portions of the outer sleeve when inflated may be positioned along the length of the tube between the proximal and distal ends. The respective inflatable elements of the device may be concurrently or separately inflatable.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 412,943 filed Nov. 12, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of Invention[0003]The invention relates generally to airway management devices and, more particularly, to a nasal airway management device with an inflatable outer sleeve.[0004]2. Discussion of Related Art[0005]Maintaining and securing a patient's airway and providing adequate ventilation when necessary are core principles to ensure oxygen delivery in all human beings. Controlling a patient's airway is the first and most important principle in basic life support and advanced cardiac life support algorithms. Humans cannot survive the interruption of oxygen delivery to the body for more than 5-10 minutes. This puts enormous pressure on ensuring timely and reliable means of airway control in emergency situations. Anesthetized patients, sedated patients,...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This puts enormous pressure on ensuring timely and reliable means of airway control in emergency situations.

Anesthetized patients, sedated patients, critically ill patients and coding patients, for example, often can not maintain an airway or adequately breath on their own and almost always require assisted ventilation.

These devices, however, have several disadvantages.

Other devices such as, for example, nasal and oral airways and external face masks, while less invasive, nevertheless provide limited or no ability to provide assisted ventilation.

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