According to the CDC, the same month (March, 2020) they declared COVD-19 a pandemic, nearly 25% of confirmed COVID-19 hospitalized patients required intubation, or ventilator use. More recently, in the US, during the summer of 2021, child intubations more than quadrupled, when the Delta variant predominated.

As Omicron and additional COVID-19 variants continue to arise globally, there will be an increasing number of sudden spikes in critical illness and respiratory failure. Preparedness with efficacious airway tools that optimize success rate of intubations is critical.

Without the proper tools, intubation procedures take excessive time, and can fail entirely, causing diminished central nervous system oxygenation and potentially permanent neurologic sequelae. Airway adjuncts such as the Tracheal Introducer Sheath (TIS) and Simplified Tracheal Introducer Sheath (STIS) hold immense potential to improve chances of successful intubations.

The TIS is a STIS with an added articulating mechanism, but otherwise is a similar device. For the purposes of further explanation, the TIS refers to both TIS and STIS unless otherwise specified.

TIS is an adjunct medical device for control and guidance of any form of tracheal introducer device through the glottic opening of a patient's airway. This facilitates endotracheal intubation by passage of the endotracheal tube.

An airway introducer is placed within and controlled by the TIS, a mechanically specialized sheath, open at both ends, and covering the distal end of the introducer (where control is most relevant). The TIS acts as a relatively stiff channel, or tunnel, for the introducer to be directed through for smooth travel along courses of varied angles. The proceduralist is able to apply curvature in real-time to the TIS-introducer assemblage based on patient anatomy and other clinical factors. Without the TIS as a channel, an introducer alone can be bent at its tip, but it is limited in its ability to move along that axis as it is being proximally controlled, outside of the patient.

The mechanistic basis for the sheath's guidance capability is based on composition, including, but not limited to, a hollowed shaft of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), with a specific ID/OD (internal diameter/outer diameter) ratio, such that there is sufficient stiffness for the sheath to act as a guide within which the introducer can travel, whilst maintaining appropriate elasticity for malleable control.

The TIS confers additional introducer controllability by minimizing introducer wobble, as introducers can consist of relatively long shaft-like devices, often nearly 60 cm.

Introducer guidance by a

An extendable intubation device is disclosed that includes a tube assembly having a plurality of elongated tubes. Within the assembly, a base tube is coupled with an extension tube to maintain a continuous fluid pathway along the tube assembly during a fore-and-aft movement of the extension tube relative to the base tube. The extendable intubation device can include a camera system to allow a user (e.g. physician) to visually monitor the advancement of the distal end of the extension tube into the trachea of the patient. The camera system can include a sensor portion attached to the distal end of the extension tube and a monitor portion. A conductive wire connects the sensor portion to the monitor portion. The monitor portion of the camera system can be provided as an eyepiece at the proximal end of the intubation device and/or as a stand alone display.

An expandable endotracheal tube includes a shaft that has an airway. The expandable endotracheal tube also includes an expandable segment mounted to a distal end of the shaft. The expandable segment includes an expandable membrane and a constant force spring positioned within the expandable membrane. The constant force spring has a compressed configuration to allow for placement of the expandable endotracheal tube within a patient and an expanded configuration in which the expandable membrane forms a seal with a trachea of the patient to enable positive pressure ventilation.

The present disclosure describes systems and apparatuses related to a bronchial isolation tube, a laryngeal mask or similar device, and/or adapters and connectors for use with the same, as well as methods for using the same. In an exemplary airway device, the device may comprise a mask portion being defined at a distal end of the airway device, and may be configured and dimensioned to be positioned in a hypopharyngeal area of a patient to cover and seal around a glottis of the patient; and a channel portion extending from a proximal end of the airway device to the mask portion. The channel portion may include first and second channels, wherein the second channel may obliquely merge with the first channel proximate to an opening of the first channel. In an exemplary embodiment, a third channel may form a combined pharyngeal-gastric access channel.

A device for maintaining an airway in a patient, the device including a mask having a peripheral portion that forms a seal with the larynx when the mask is positioned in the laryngo pharynx to thereby prevent ingress of extraneous fluids into the larynx; an airway tube connected to or formed with the mask for passing gas to the larynx when the mask is properly inserted into the laryngo pharynx; and one or more elongated members located on the mask, wherein the application of force to the elongated members causes elastic deformation of the device, thereby facilitating insertion of the device into the patient.

Systems, methods, and devices for facilitating insertion of an endotracheal tube and/or for verifying the position of the endotracheal tube within an airway of a patient with respect to an anatomical landmark of a patient are disclosed. Systems, methods, and devices for facilitating removal of debris from the distal airways of a patient under direct visualization are also disclosed.

An endotracheal tube has a curved tube body and an oblique cutting surface. The curved tube body has a front end, and the curved tube body has a center axis, an inner axis and an outer axis. The oblique cutting surface has a tip, and the oblique cutting surface is located at the front end and has the following characteristics: the oblique cutting surface has a circular projection surface in the vertical plane and a tip projection point on the circumference of the circular projection surface, the inner axis has an inner axis projection point on the circumference of the circular projection surface, and the tip projection point and the inner axis projection point have an angle θ, where 15°<θ<45°.

An insertion guide facilitates insertion of an endotracheal tube (ETT) into the trachea of a patient instead of the esophagus of the patient. The ETT includes an elongated, somewhat flexible, generally hollow tube and the insertion guide includes an elongated, solid and relatively rigid shaft that is configured to be positioned within the hollow tube of the ETT. The shaft is provided with a radiused portion and/or an angled portion adjacent a distal end of the insertion guide that protrudes outwardly beyond a distal end of the ETT. The radiused portion and/or the angled portion of the shaft facilitate insertion of the distal end of the ETT past the epiglottis and into the trachea of the patient instead of into the esophagus of the patient.

An intubation device utilizes a steerable endotracheal tube guide, a novel mechanism to automatically position an endotracheal tube at the laryngeal opening, and a novel system for soft tissue retraction to improve visualization of the laryngeal opening. An ETT is positioned within an overtube having proximal and distal ends and a flexible tip. The distal end houses a feeder mechanism for displacing the endotracheal tube through the overtube. A hood includes a stem, base, and expandable body, and may be affixed to the overtube's distal end. The ETT-containing overtube is precisely positioned at a laryngeal opening via positioning effects of body expansion, activation of a tip director, and/or flexible tip articulation. Unhindered visualization of the laryngeal opening is achieved by the expandable body, pushing the soft tissue outwardly and extensibly. An actuation module controls the feeder mechanism as well as the flexible tip to position flexible tip and endotracheal tube.

The present invention relates to a computer-vision based autonomous steerable catheter device and methods of using the same for targeted delivery of a liquid microvolume into the interior of a lung.