Background: endotracheal intubation, a high-risk procedure.
Endotracheal intubation is a common but high-risk procedure in anaesthesiology, critical care, emergency medicine, and the prehospital setting. To reduce life-threatening complications, the first attempt successful is critical, as longer or repeated attempts can cause potentially lethal complications (including airway bleeding, swelling and hypoxic episodes) or even death. Video laryngoscopes have become increasingly popular, as they provide better visualization of the larynx for a more accurate insertion of the endotracheal tube when compared to the traditional laryngoscope. However, correct visualization of the airway is not enough: an intubation is successful only when the endotracheal tube is introduced into the trachea, and depends on the dexterity and experience of the clinician performing the procedure, as well as adequate equipment and timely assistance from other staff. Ironically, clinicians performing more difficult, time-critical intubations are often those with less experience, worse conditions, poorer equipment, and fewer staff – leading to complications in over 40% of emergency intubations. There is an unmet need for a video laryngoscope that provides state-of-the-art visualization of the larynx while facilitating the accurate and rapid insertion of the endotracheal tube, thus making this life-saving technique accessible to moderately-trained personnel to bring safe intubation everywhere.
Our solution: a video laryngoscope with a shuttle mechanism enabling guided insertion of the endotracheal tube.
Our patented solution is a state-of-the-art, one-handed video laryngoscope with an embedded shuttle mechanism, enabling the guided insertion of the endotracheal tube. Our Shuttle-TechniqueTM, “a Sure View is a Sure Shot”, enables rapid and accurate intubation of even difficult airways by untrained or inexperienced clinicians, such as paramedics and residents. It also permits the clinician to carry out the whole procedure using only one hand, while the other (dominant) hand remains free for essential tasks such as suction, head positioning or applying cricoid pressure, thus reducing the need for extra assistance. This characteristic is especially useful in situations when the demand for medical assistance is higher than the availability of healthcare professionals, as is the case of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Use:
- All standard intubation procedures in anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care medicine and pre-hospital settings.
- Rapid and accurate intubation in patients with difficult airways.
- Successful intubation by healthcare professionals with little or no prior training and/or experience.
- Intubation in low-resource, poorly staffed environments, or in situations with an increased demand for critical and emergency respiratory procedures (including the current COVID-19 pandemic).
Advantages:
- State-of-the-art video laryngoscope, comparable to other options currently on the market.
- Embedded shuttle mechanism enables faster, more accurate intubation compared with standard video laryngoscopes.
- Easy to use, facilitating safe intubation by clinicians with little experience or training.
- Permits one-handed operation, reducing staff requirements in understaffed, high-demand situations and emergency settings.
- Compatible with all models and sizes of endotracheal tube (including paediatric sizes).
- The traditional five-step procedure is simplified to a much easier two-step process, with total control over both laryngoscope and tube insertion.
- Maintaining the classic standard approach to the first step of laryngoscopic intubation facilitates adoption.
Additional information:
- Class 1 medical device. CE marking and FDA approval pending.
- Patentsregistered in USA, China, Japan, and Australia, and pending in the rest of jurisdictions.
- Preclinical trials under review for publication.
Our revolutionary solution for safe intubation everywhere. A state-of-the-art, one-handed video laryngoscope with an embedded shuttle mechanism, enabling the guided insertion of the endotracheal tube.