Endoscopic Airway Channel With Inflatable Bladder for Airway Patency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Upper gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures face significant airway challenges due to the large diameter of the gastroscope, leading to airway compromise, difficulty in accessing the airway, risks of hypoxemia, aspiration, and gastric reflux, which existing oral and nasal airway devices inadequately address.
Innovation Solution
An airway device with an inflatable cuff and bladder that secures the gastroscope in place, forms a seal, and creates a clear airway by inflating to push soft tissue and the epiglottis away from the laryngeal opening, allowing for oxygen delivery and preventing gastric reflux.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a gastroscope with large diameter (8-13 mm) is inserted to perform upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, then the procedure can be performed, but the total airway space available for breathing is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The airway device is segmented into multiple functional components: an inflatable cuff for securing the gastroscope, an inflatable bladder for creating a clear airway by pushing soft tissue away from the laryngeal opening, and an oxygen delivery system. This segmentation allows each component to address specific problems independently while working together to resolve the overall airway compromise caused by the large-diameter gastroscope.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable bladder acts as an intermediary mechanism between the gastroscope and the airway. By inflating the bladder, soft tissue and the epiglottis are pushed away from the laryngeal opening, creating a clear airway passage that mediates between the presence of the large gastroscope and the need for adequate breathing space.
2Ease of operation
If deep sedation is used to minimize patient discomfort and suppress gag, cough, and laryngospasm reflexes, then patient comfort is improved, but pharyngeal and laryngeal muscle tone is lost causing upper airway obstruction and apnea
Solution Approach 1:
The airway device is positioned and inflated before the deep sedation takes effect or at the beginning of the procedure. The inflatable bladder is inflated to push soft tissue away from the laryngeal opening, and the inflatable cuff is inflated to secure the gastroscope, establishing airway patency before the sedation-induced muscle relaxation causes obstruction.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable bladder serves as an intermediary structure that maintains airway patency during deep sedation. By physically pushing soft tissue and the epiglottis away from the laryngeal opening, the bladder compensates for the loss of pharyngeal and laryngeal muscle tone caused by deep sedation, preventing upper airway obstruction and apnea.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the gastroscope is inserted to examine the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum, then diagnostic and therapeutic procedures can be performed, but access to the airway is limited and rapid respiratory intervention becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the airway management function from the endoscopic function. The inflatable bladder and cuff components are integrated with the gastroscope but can be independently inflated and controlled to manage the airway, allowing rapid respiratory intervention without removing the gastroscope.
Solution Approach 2:
The inflatable bladder acts as an intermediary that creates a clear airway passage through the hypopharynx, mediating between the gastroscope presence and the need for rapid airway access. When inflated, it pushes soft tissue away from the laryngeal opening, creating a patent airway that allows for rapid respiratory intervention.
4Reliability
If the airway device includes inflatable cuff and bladder components to secure the gastroscope and create a clear airway, then airway patency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inflatable cuff and bladder are merged with the gastroscope structure, utilizing the existing scope channel and distal portion as the foundation for the airway device. This merging approach integrates multiple functions (endoscopy, airway securing, and airway clearing) into a single unified device rather than using separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The distal portion of the scope channel serves multiple functions: it acts as the structural foundation for the airway device, provides the inflation lumen for the cuff, and serves as the attachment point for the bladder. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving reliable airway patency.
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
The device maintains a secure airway, prevents aspiration, and ensures effective oxygenation, reducing the risk of complications and improving patient safety during endoscopic procedures.
Implementation Method 1
an inflatable bladder positioned proximal to the cuff on an anterior surface of the distal portion of the scope channel. When the bladder is inflated, it pushes the epiglottis and the soft tissue away from a center toward a periphery of the hypopharynx, the region between the oropharynx at the level of the hyoid bone and the esophagus at the lower end of the cricoid cartilage
Implementation Method 2
an inflatable cuff positioned on an exterior surface of the scope channel. When the cuff is inflated, it expands radially from the scope channel and forms a seal between the scope channel and the wall of the proximal esophagus
Data Source
AI summary
An airway device includes an outertube and a scope channel partially enclosed by the outertube. An intraluminal space in the outertube, not occupied by the scope channel, provides a passageway for air flow to the patient. An esophageal cuff is positioned distally on the scope channel. When inflated, the esophageal cuff secures the airway device in the proximal esophagus of the patient and helps to prevent gastric reflux by mechanically blocking gastric content from entering into the larynx. An inflatable bladder is attached to an anterior surface of the scope channel between the esophageal cuff and a distal opening of the outertube. When inflated, the bladder forms a tubular ring that pushes against the epiglottis and/or other soft tissue towards a wall of the hypopharynx to produce an unhindered air passage into the patient's trachea.