Industrial Design Consultancy (IDC), a UK based product design agency, has developed a new laryngoscope device - The Venner AP Advance Video Laryngoscope - for the Venner Group.

IDC said the device, which is used during anaesthesia to introduce an endotracheal tube, is the first of its kind to offer both standard, Mac3 and Mac4, as well as the Difficult Airway Blades (DAB).

IDC worked alongside Venner clinicians through all the design phases; from concept through to production, including electronics, compliance and testing.

The design team at IDC identified a gap in capabilities of instruments, whereby some laryngoscopes were good for viewing the vocal chords and some good at positioning the tracheal tube, but none were capable of achieving both of these proficiently at the same time.

The company integrated a miniature video camera and a high-quality display in the design to enable anaesthetists to view the larynx on the viewer display in the same position as the actual anatomy, preserving the user’s natural hand to eye co-ordination whilst manipulating either the tracheal tube or the device itself.

The display can also be output to a large screen and images and video can be captured to support training exercises.

The new laryngoscope uses standard and difficult airway intubation blades as well as single-use anti-fog, disposable blades, allowing it to be used in several different scenarios, including patients who present challenging airways or in emergencies.

IDC industrial designer Marko Plevnik said the Venner AP Advance Video Laryngoscope considerably eases tracheal intubation during general anaesthesia or CPR, whilst reducing patient trauma, even in the most critical cases and works both with live video and, uniquely, as a traditional laryngoscope without the video display.