The Technology
We have developed a technology to make sure that anesthetic laryngoscopy is done properly. The novel aspect of our laryngoscope is that it has a spray nozzle designed to apply topical local anesthetic agent to oropharyngeal tissues of a patient. It also has an imaging system designed to check spray of an anesthetic dispenser. This imaging system operates together with an image processing and image recognition software.
An imaging system is installed on the retractor. A light source, which operates both as a flashlight or a continuous light is located at the back side of the retractor. The power supply of the imaging system is located inside the handle. A camera is located at the opposite side of the light source. In our current design, the spray nozzle is located in between the light source and the camera. Therefore, the spray or aerosol passes in between the light source and the camera. This allows for proper characterization of the aerosol and determination of the aerosol droplet number density and droplet size. These characteristics are then used to calculate the amount of mass that is applied to any location.