An ultra-thin wire reinforced endotracheal tube which includes a novel sealing design adapted to fit in a complementary manner in a subject's larynx. The endotracheal tube includes a laryngeal mask airway section which has a cross sectional shape and size that are complementary to a subject's glottis. Preferably, the laryngeal section has an oval or egg-shaped cross section.
Endotracheal tubes are widely used in anesthesia and critical care medicine. In use, tracheostomy tube provide access to the upper airways for controlled, assisted ventilation or spontaneous unassisted ventilation with positive end expiratory pressure.
One of the drawbacks of inserting an endotracheal tube into an upper airway of a patient results in the reduction of the lumen of the airway. One cause by which the lumen is reduced is the inability to use the largest possible endotracheal tube for a given patient without subjecting the patient to increased risks. Generally, it is not advisable to insert the largest possible suction catheter in a patient since such an attempt will entail many trials and errors which may take additional time which should be avoided especially in critical care or emergency situations.
In addition, the wall thickness of an endotracheal tube needs to be such to provide sufficient strength so as to be safely handled by the using physician or technician during insertion and to maintain the tube stable after insertion. At present, adult feeding tubes range between 7 to 9 millimeters in internal diameter with a total wall thickness ranging between 1.4 and 1.5 millimeters. For newborn endotracheal tubes, the decrease in lumen internal diameter as a result of the required wall thickness amounts to approximately 0.5 millimeters or more.
Any decrease in the lumen due to wall thickness of an endotracheal tube has a profound effect on the airway resistance, since the resistance to air flow is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radius.
As a result of the deficiencies in prior art endotracheal tubes, a need has developed to provide an endotracheal tube having reduced airway resistance so as to facilitate establishment of artificial airways other than those using mechanical ventilators.
