Paediatric Intubation Guide
Learning to unblock airways in children
When lungs lose the ability to breathe easily intubation may be required. This can be scary for both patients and clinicians – it’s a difficult procedure involving delicate tissue and often blocked airways. In paediatric patients there’s even greater complexity given less room for intubation.
A bougie is a thin and flexible surgical instrument used by clinicians to guide an intubation tube down the throat. Clinicians learn how to intubate using training mannequins, but the bougies used in paediatric care don’t work well.
Paediatric Bougie design
Dr Mok Shuang, Paediatric Emergency Medicine Specialist, asked Ara Manawa to help design and produce longer, more rigid paediatric bougies that could be used for research and training. Initially we thought a 3D printed solution would be best, however test prints did not provide the necessary flexibility or quality. Instead we partnered with a supplier and designed a mould for the product.
To date we have produced two iterations of the bougie and 10 prototypes made of acetal rod. Ara Manawa hopes to continue to contribute to improving tools for simulation and training.
September 2022
THANKS
Ashleigh Kennedy, Product Designer
Nathaniel McTaggart, Clinical Engineering
Dr Mok Shuang, Paediatric Emergency Medicine Specialist, Starship
AUTHOR
Justin Kennedy-Good, Director, Ara Manawa
CONTRIBUTORS
Tai Leong at LEP Manufacturing