Teflon Bougie Shape Memory Airway Adaptation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bougie devices are not well-suited for accommodating different airway sizes and contours, often require lubrication, and may cause allergies due to material composition, particularly latex, which makes them difficult to use effectively and safely for guiding endotracheal tube insertion.
Innovation Solution
A bougie device made of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) with shape memory properties that allows for adjustable curvature and self-lubrication, enabling easy insertion and adaptation to individual airway shapes without the need for external lubrication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a latex bougie is used, then the device is flexible and adaptable to airway contours, but it causes allergies and requires lubrication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from latex to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which maintains the necessary flexibility and adaptability to airway contours while eliminating the harmful allergic reactions associated with latex. This material substitution resolves the contradiction by preserving the beneficial mechanical properties while removing the harmful biological response.
2Ease of operation
If lubrication is applied to the bougie, then insertion is facilitated, but cleaning and sterilization become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The PTFE material provides self-lubricating properties inherent to its low coefficient of friction, eliminating the need for external lubrication. This self-service characteristic allows the bougie to be inserted easily without requiring additional lubricants, thereby simplifying subsequent cleaning and sterilization processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the surface friction parameter by using PTFE material with inherently low friction characteristics. This material property change provides natural lubrication that facilitates insertion while maintaining a surface that is easy to clean and sterilize, resolving the contradiction between ease of insertion and ease of maintenance.
3Ease of manufacture
If the bougie is packaged straight, then storage is simplified, but it does not accommodate the natural curvature of the airway
Solution Approach 1:
The PTFE material's flexibility and memory characteristics allow the bougie to dynamically adapt to the airway's natural curvature during insertion. The device can be packaged in a straight configuration for simple storage, but when needed, it can be manually shaped to conform to the patient's specific airway anatomy, resolving the contradiction between packaging simplicity and clinical adaptability.
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 Teflon bougie device facilitates easier insertion and removal of endotracheal tubes by accommodating varying airway sizes and contours, providing tactile feedback through vibration transmission and being latex-free, thus enhancing safety and ease of use while being easy to clean and sterilize.
Implementation Method 1
By providing a bougie device which is formed of Teflon, or polytetrafluoroethylene, the resulting bougie device is self lubricated, that is no lubrication is typically required for insertion into an airway passage of a patient
Implementation Method 2
the body comprising a shape memory material such that the body is arranged to be bent from a starting orientation into an auxiliary orientation and be substantially retained in the auxiliary orientation
Implementation Method 3
the body is preferably arranged to have vibratory transmission properties such that contact between one end of the body with tracheal rings in the airway of the person can be felt by a user contacting the opposing end of the body
Data Source
AI summary
A bougie device for guiding insertion of an endotracheal tube into an airway of a person, comprises an elongate body of shape memory and self-lubricating material, for example Teflon™. Accordingly no lubrication is required for insertion into the airway for ease of cleaning and sterilizing for reuse. Also, the amount of curvature of the overall rod as well as an angle of the tip of the rod can be adjusted due to the shape memory characteristics of the body to accommodate a particular patent's airway. The body can also be suitably sized to have vibration transmission characteristics such that a contact with one end of the bougie device with tracheal rings of the patient can be felt by a user.