Intubation Bougie With Adjustable Flexible Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intubation devices face difficulties in navigating the endotracheal tube through vocal cords, especially when the approach angle is sharp, leading to potential airway trauma and failed intubations due to the limitations of videolaryngoscopes and specialized introducers.
Innovation Solution
A bougie with an adjustable distal tip featuring a spring mechanism, controlled by an internal wire, allowing the tip to flex up to 90 degrees anteriorly and passively adjust to avoid the anterior tracheal wall, facilitating easier navigation through sharp angles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If a videolaryngoscope is used to improve visualization of the vocal cords, then visualisation is improved, but the ability to direct the endotracheal tube through the vocal cords deteriorates due to sharply angled pathway
Solution Approach 1:
The bougie incorporates a flexible distal tip that can dynamically change its angle relative to the shaft. The tip can be bent to different degrees (including up to 90 degrees) to match the sharply angled pathway created by videolaryngoscopy, allowing it to navigate the difficult geometry while maintaining ease of use
Solution Approach 2:
The bougie allows changing the geometric parameter of the tip angle to adapt to the specific pathway requirements. By bending the flexible tip to different angles, the device can accommodate the sharp angles introduced by videolaryngoscope anatomy while still enabling successful tube passage
2Ease of operation
If a specialized introducer is used to guide the endotracheal tube through sharp angles, then the ability to direct the tube is improved, but the risk of airway trauma increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bougie features a flexible distal tip that can bend and conform to the airway geometry rather than forcing a rigid path. This flexibility allows the tip to navigate sharp angles smoothly, reducing the risk of trauma to the vocal cords and airway tissues while maintaining the ability to guide the tube successfully
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible tip can be bent into curved configurations to match the natural curvature of the airway pathway. This curved approach allows the bougie to follow the anatomical path rather than creating sharp angular forces that could cause trauma
3Ease of operation
If the bougie tip is bent to follow a sharp angle of approach, then the ability to reach the vocal cords is improved, but the force transmission from the shaft to the tip deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible tip design allows the bougie to bend without creating a rigid mechanical discontinuity. The flexibility enables the tip to reach sharp angles while maintaining continuous force transmission through the material, allowing the operator to advance the tip by simply pushing the shaft without force loss
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the ability to successfully intubate patients with difficult airway anatomy by reducing the risk of airway trauma and improving the passage of the endotracheal tube through the vocal cords, even in challenging anatomical conditions.
Implementation Method 1
By pulling the cap off the bougie a short distance, a longitudinal force applied to the wire in a proximal direction bends the spring. This moves the bougie tip up to 90 degrees in an anterior plane. When the cap is released, the bougie tip (and spring) returns to its original neutral position by using the stored elastic energy of the spring.
Data Source
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AI summary
A device to facilitate an intubation procedure, such as placement of an endotracheal tube. The device includes a shaft having a wall with a flexible region proximate a tip of the shaft. The shaft both distally and proximally of the flexible region is of a higher durometer than the durometer of the flexible region. A cord extending along the shaft is used to move the tip away from the longitudinal axis of the shaft.