Designing A Video Laryngoscope Imaging System With A 7-Mm Blade For Neonatal Patients

In case of ventilation failure while using a resuscitation mask after a newborn infant is pushed from the birth canal, a doctor must perform intubation in the infant as well as other emergency measures to keep the baby alive. However, because of the considerably small mouth area of a newborn or premature infant, doctors are unable to view the glottis entrance, which can lead to a failed intubation or long intubation time, thereby resulting in either a drop in oxygen levels or a rise in the intrathoracic pressure. Although a normal video laryngoscope with a 12-mm metal blade certainly improves this type of difficult intubation, doctors often complain that the depth of field of this laryngoscope is insufficient and the width of the blade is too wide for performing intubation on neonatal patients. Therefore, in this study, we developed a video laryngoscope imaging system with two modules, an ultrathin 7-mm metal blade, and an optical imaging system. The core technology of this system includes a 2.5-mm optical lens and verification of imaging quality. To allow a physician to immediately determine an infant's airway position and prevent binocular disparity while performing intubation, the optical properties of monolithic lenses were simulated while designing the imaging system, thereby allowing the physician to obtain a clear and undistorted image within the field of view.