Video Laryngoscope With Disposable Sheath and Remote Ejection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current laryngoscope systems are expensive, inconvenient, and fail to facilitate difficult intubations, especially when a bougie is necessary, due to their outdated design and lack of innovative features.
Innovation Solution
A laryngoscope system with a disposable sheath that is slideably and removably coupled to an arm, equipped with a camera, light, and a remote ejection mechanism, allowing for easy detachment and reuse, along with a display unit and IV pole attachment, enabling wireless communication and motion-activated power, and a bougie canal for guiding the ET tube.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a video laryngoscope with camera and remote monitor is used, then the ability to locate vocal cords and place endotracheal tube is greatly improved, but the device becomes expensive and inconvenient to use
Solution Approach 1:
The laryngoscope is divided into separate components: a reusable handle containing the camera and electronics, and a disposable sheath containing the optical elements. This segmentation allows the expensive electronic components to be reused while the disposable sheath provides the necessary optical function, reducing overall system cost and improving convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical sheath is designed as a disposable component that is discarded after a single use, eliminating the need for expensive sterilization and maintenance of optical elements. The reusable handle contains the expensive camera and electronics, achieving cost-effectiveness by combining disposable and reusable elements.
2Reliability
If a bougie is used to guide difficult intubations, then successful tube placement is achieved, but the procedure becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The bougie canal is integrated directly into the sheath structure, allowing the bougie to be threaded through the sheath and used in conjunction with the video laryngoscope in a single unified device. This merging eliminates the need for separate bougie devices and reduces procedural steps, saving time while maintaining successful intubation rates.
3Device complexity
If the laryngoscope design from the 1940s is used, then the device is simple and reliable, but it cannot adequately handle difficult intubations or provide visual guidance
Solution Approach 1:
The traditional mechanical laryngoscope design is enhanced by replacing the direct visual inspection method with a camera-based video system. The camera captures images of the airway and transmits them to a remote monitor, substituting direct mechanical visualization with electronic imaging while maintaining the simple mechanical structure of the laryngoscope handle and sheath.
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 system provides an inexpensive, sanitary, and easy-to-use solution for all intubation scenarios, including challenging environments, improving the ability to place endotracheal tubes by allowing remote ejection and reuse of the sheath, and guiding the bougie for precise tube placement.
Implementation Method 1
a spring element capable of ejecting the sheath from the arm; The sheath is remotely ejected by depressing a thumb ejector switch on the handle which releases a clasp at the coupling point and further releases a spring element held in compression which, upon release, forcibly moves the sheath along the length of the arm
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A laryngoscope (14) and system (12) are provided wherein the laryngoscope (14) is comprised of a handle (16), an arm (18), a camera (22), a light (20), and a disposable sheath (24); the sheath (24) being comprised of a canal (26) capable of being threaded with a bougie (70); the handle (16) being comprised of a remote ejection element (34). The system is comprised of a laryngoscope (14), a display device (72), and an IV pole attachment (98). The display unit (72) is comprised of a container (74), a stand (92), and a screen (88). The IV pole attachment (98) is comprised of an attachment receiver (100), an IV clamp (108), and a laryngoscope storage receptacle (116). In other aspects, the laryngoscope (14) and display unit (72) are sensitive to movement and may power on and off with motion or absence of motion. In another aspect, the laryngoscope (14) is capable of wirelessly communicating with the screen (88).