USB Borescope Video Laryngoscope Blade and Handle

thingiverse

I am sharing this due to the COVID19 crisis; in case a provider in a low resource setting elected to try this as a last resort for compassionate care. This has not been tested in humans and is not FDA approved. The blade I'm presenting here is based on the same design that I introduced at the Society for Technology in Anesthesia conference back in 2017, with slight modifications discussed below. It was initially designed for human trials but never got a chance to happen due to several reasons. I tested this blade using a randomized trial intubating a Laerdal difficult airway trainer and the results were published in a journal article that can be accessed at https://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/toc/2017/05001. Specifically, you can find it on pages 32-34. The blade is connected to a printed handle made from PETG, which was chosen because of its FDA food-safe label and strength properties. The handle accepts a standard 5/16 inch thick steel bolt that screws through the handle, making it stronger. It's also designed to be short, which can help with difficult intubation. I added a slight modification to allow a 5.5 mm borescope camera to screw into the blade for better alignment of the image. This is done using a 5.5 mm USB video borescope that can attach to a tablet or cellphone, available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/CrazyFire-Smartphone-Endoscope-Inspection-Waterproof/dp/B015SMFFV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502794365&sr=8-1&keywords=crazyfire+usb+borescope. To print this design, I used an extruder temperature of 245°C and a print bed at 60°C. The print speed was set to 35 mm/sec with a layer height of 0.3 mm and shell thickness of 0.8 mm. Infill density was set to 80-100%, which is necessary for strength. Please let me know if this design works successfully in your hands, as I'm eager to hear about any results you may have.