Fibreoptics, difficult-airway blades and video laryngoscopy
| Year | Person / instrument | Historical contribution and significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1967–1968 | Shigeto Ikeda; Calder and Murphy | Development of flexible fibreoptic bronchoscopy and early fibreoptic-assisted tracheal intubation. The instrument-development and first clinical-intubation claims need to be distinguished. |
| 1973 | Paul Venn / gum elastic bougie | Development and commercial introduction of the angulated-tip tracheal tube introducer. An airway adjunct rather than a laryngoscope, but relevant to the glossary. Macintosh’s earlier straight bougie design also needs documenting. |
| c.1980–late 1980s | James Roger Bullard | Developed a rigid anatomically curved fibreoptic laryngoscope. The early design history, patent chronology and clinical introduction should be separated. |
| 1984 | Ronald Cormack and John Lehane | Published Difficult tracheal intubation in obstetrics, describing four grades of laryngeal view. This is an important airway eponymous term, although not a blade. |
| 1988–1998 | George Berci and collaborators | Early coupling of video-imaging systems to laryngoscopes, subsequently including camera-assisted Macintosh laryngoscopy. Important predecessor to integrated chip-camera videolaryngoscopes. |
| 1993 | Edward McCoy and R. K. Mirakhur | Published The levering laryngoscope. Introduced a Macintosh-style blade with an articulated distal tip operated through a handle lever. |
| 1990s | Bullard, WuScope and UpsherScope | Established a generation of rigid indirect-optical laryngoscopes enabling laryngeal visualisation without a conventional direct line of sight. |
| 1998 | Markus Weiss | Described video-intuboscopy using optical fibres incorporated into a conventional laryngoscope. |
| 2001 | John Pacey / GlideScope | Introduction of an integrated video laryngoscope employing a markedly angulated blade and a miniature camera to display the larynx on a monitor. A major commercial milestone in videolaryngoscopy. |
| 2005 | Cooper, Pacey and colleagues | Published multicentre early clinical experience with the GlideScope in 728 patients, providing evidence beyond instrument introduction. |
| 2006 | McGrath Series 5 | A portable self-contained video laryngoscope with a small screen mounted on the handle and a disposable blade cover. |
| 2000s | Airtraq / Pentax Airway Scope | Development of channelled indirect optical and video-assisted instruments designed to facilitate tracheal tube delivery. These should be subdivided because their optical mechanisms differ. |
| 2010 | Karl Storz C-MAC | Published early clinical experience with a video laryngoscope using familiar Macintosh-style blade geometry and an external display. |
Further reading
- Jones T, Gililand L. Early laryngoscopy. Illumination, mirrors and the first direct view (1743–1896)
- Gililand L, Jones T. The intubating laryngoscope and development of the modern blade (1903–1977).
- Gililand L, Jones T. Fibreoptics, difficult-airway blades and videolaryngoscopy (1967– )
References
Clinical gate and Laryngoscopy its past and future
eponymictionary
the names behind the name
MB ChB, Edinburgh Medical school. F1/F2 in Bath, now in Australia, Perth preparing for a career in Emergency medicine. I have an interest in wilderness medicine and women’s health, but haven’t fully found my niche interest yet.
MBChB - Liverpool. RMO in Emergency Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, currently soaking up the sun down under. Aiming to pursue a career in anaesthetics.