A Smart Soft Robotic Tool for Semi-Automated Intubation

The proposed research addresses the topics of Respiratory Health, Emerging Viral Diseases, and Hemorrhage Control. Here, a semi-automated intubation tool will be developed to improve outcomes and reduce the difficulty of procedures, especially in pre-hospital settings. A wide variety of respiratory conditions may require intubation as part of treatment, especially pneumonia, COPD, and respiratory failure. Additionally, a wide variety of emerging viral diseases, such as COVID-19, affect the lungs and airway, requiring intubation in severe cases. Additionally, patients with severe bleeding often require intubation in order to stabilize. Intubation is a lifesaving procedure utilized to stabilize patients with compromised airways. In a prehospital setting, these challenges are exacerbated, and failure or complication is more common, greater than 20%. This is in large part due to the skill of the intubator. Especially for difficult airways, clinicians must use the laryngoscope blade to visualize the airway and then guide a passive endotracheal tube down the patient's airway. Because of this difficulty, while well-trained operators can perform intubations reliably, it can be more difficult for emergency medical worker and other less skilled operators to consistently perform effective procedures. A variety of specialized tools have been created to reduce the difficulty of, and even automate, intubation procedures. However, to date, most of these tools require heavy and bulky equipment, incompatible with pre-hospital settings. Recently developed innovations will be used to create a semiautomated intubation device that utilizes soft robotic actuators and embedded flexible electronic sensing. Soft robotics utilizes actuators formed from compliant elastomeric materials such as silicones and polyurethanes so that they can interact with the complex and/or delicate features, conforming and deforming to interface with them. This technology is well suited for medical applications, due to its inherent compatibility with soft tissues and complex anatomic features. The tool possesses the form factor of a standard endotracheal tube, the device inserted during traditional intubations to establish a definitive airway. The tip of the endotracheal tube, which is embedded with ultrathin soft actuators can be activated to automatically guide itself toward the patient airway as the operator inserts the device. Here, local force sensors are utilized to detect contact with tissue, while local CO2 sensors allow the device to identify and track CO2 gradients that naturally occur within the airway. Unlike many intubation robots, which require bulky hardware to guide and control the endotracheal tube, soft robotic actuators do not require the entire device can be controlled with a small electronics module and a compressed air canister, allowing it to be utilized in a wide variety of emergent scenarios. The intrinsic safety, ease of use, and portable nature of this device make it well suited for addressing the need for better tools for pre-hospital intubation, allowing the procedure to be successfully performed by a wider variety of operators with less training. Less