SAUSALITO, Calif., Dec., 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanovas, Inc., a life science asset holding company and medical technology accelerator, announced today the launch of its wholly owned subsidiary, Intubation Science, Inc., and its LightSpeed Intubation System™ (LSI).
There are over 40 million Endotracheal Intubations performed annually in the U.S., making it the single largest interventional procedure. Nearly 2 million of those procedures are complex and challenging to perform. The LightSpeed Intubation System enables quicker and safer positioning of the endotracheal tube without losing control of the airway.
“Intubation Science’s LightSpeed Intubation System offers a new and improved approach to endotracheal intubation and is intended to make this procedure, safer, faster and easier to perform,” said Larry Gerrans, Sanovas CEO and the LSI’s co-inventor. “There is a myriad of clinicians who have purview over airway management, from Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) to Anesthesiologists, and their skills and experience vary widely. The LSI system has been designed to improve procedural accuracy and speed and to make airway management safer and more reproducible for ALL patients and clinicians, every time.”
Endotracheal intubation currently requires clinicians to use both hands when inserting the laryngeal retractor and the endotracheal tube, which are typically introduced side-by-side. These devices are inflexible and take up valuable space in the mouth and throat that can hinder visualization of the patient’s anatomy.
“Current systems can pose challenges to clinicians, especially during difficult cases, as they do not provide sufficient visualization of and navigation to the anatomy,” said Dr. Chris Baker who is a Board Certified Physician in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and the co-designer of the LightSpeed Intubation System.
“The biggest challenge of the intubation process is to accurately and quickly advance the endotracheal tube (ETT) through the vocal cords without causing damage. Improper placement can result in injury, delayed care and in some cases, death to the patient.”
The LightSpeed Intubation System’s uni-body, side-loading design saves space, mitigates displacement of soft tissues and enables doctors to facilitate airway placement quickly.
The LSI’s revolutionary design features an integrated optical stylet with a deflectable tip and steerable stylet in order to better navigate and visualize the anatomy throughout the procedure. The optical stylet gives direct visualization into the trachea confirming that the endotracheal tube clears the vital anatomy of the larynx. Further, since it is steerable, it ensures the inflation cuff is correctly positioned between the larynx and the carina with precision. Additionally, the system eliminates the need for costly chest x-rays required to confirm positioning. An additional feature of LSI is that its optical stylet serves as an ETT ‘switch stick’ for those ventilated patients who need a tube exchange.
“Intubation can be tricky! Traditional systems are bulky and inflexible. They can be difficult to maneuver through narrow anatomy and can cause complications when the equipment is misplaced in the esophagus. The LightSpeed Intubation System addresses common difficulties of intubation with its integrated, flexible design, visualization and navigation capabilities. This allows doctors to perform the procedure safely,” said Gerrans
About Intubation Science, Inc.
There are over 40 million Endotracheal Intubations performed annually (US) with nearly 2 million being complex and challenging to perform. The company’s LightSpeed Intubation System ™, a new and improved solution for Endotracheal Intubation will make this most widely performed of all surgical procedures, safer, faster and easier to achieve.
Intubation Science, Inc. is a subsidiary of Sanovas, Inc.