"The future of intubation": Students in the Biodesign program of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center designed a self-guided robotic intubation device that crawls to the lungs in difficult situations. (Photo: Hebrew University)
Graduates of the Hebrew University’s Biodesign program revealed a
robotic intubation device that automatically identifies the lungs using
an infrared source and navigates toward it. The device was successfully
tested on cadavers at Hadassah Medical Center, and clinical trials will
begin as soon as next year. “I strongly believe that GuideIn Tube
represents the future of intubation,” said Dr. Elchanan Fried, director
of Hadassah Medical Center’s general intensive care unit and the group’s
clinical expert.
Intubation is the placement of a plastic tube into the lungs that
allows anesthetized or critically ill patients to breathe. The current
procedure requires the physician to see the trachea and choose between
two very similar holes, one leading to the lungs, the other to the
stomach. Failure to identify the correct hole can lead to patient death.
Worse, intubation sometimes has to be carried out in the field, during
military operations, or on patients that have blood or liquids
obstructing the way.
This month, graduates of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem’s Biodesign program revealed a prototype called
GuideIN Tube. GuideIN Tube is a robotic intubation device that
automatically identifies the lungs using an infrared source and
navigates toward it. The device was successfully tested on cadavers at
the Hadassah Medical Center, and clinical trials will begin as soon as
next year.
“I strongly believe that GuideIn Tube represents the
future of intubation,” said Dr. Elchanan Fried, director of the general
intensive care unit in Hadassah Medical Center, and the group’s clinical
expert. The device targets a $3 billion market, which is expected to
increase by 5% annually. “We really thought about the paramedic in the
field,” said Itai Hayut, the leading engineering student on the project.
“We wanted something simple and compact that they could trust without
fail. I think we hit it on all marks.”
Other students in the
group include Tommy Weiss-Sadan, a biology graduate student, as well as
Sarah Horwitz and Ariel Shrem who are completing their MBA degrees.
Biodesign
is a multi-disciplinary, team-based approach to medical innovation,
created by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical
Center in partnership with Stanford University. The program takes
outstanding medical fellows, bioengineering and business graduate
students, and tutors them in the science and practice of bringing a
medical innovation to the market. The program is directed by Dr. Yaakov
Nahmias, head of the Bioengineering program at the Hebrew University,
and Prof. Chaim Lotan, director of the Heart Institute at Hadassah
Medical Center.
Other teachers include, Prof. Dan Galai, Dr. Niron Hashai, and Dr. David Planer
Source: Hebrew University of Jerusalem via AlphaGalileo