Video laryngoscope

The Video Laryngoscope is a medical device. It is a hand-held endoscopic instrument used during laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation.
Traditionally direct laryngoscopy involved using a device to move the tongue out of the way to allow the larynx to be viewed directly; sometimes incorporating a light source. The Video Laryngoscope relays an image from a sensor at the tip of the blade to a screen to the LCD viewer. It also provides a video output for display on a large screen, recording or for training purposes.

When the Laryngoscope was designed, the sensor used was the smallest of its kind in the world. Despite the quality of the sensor, significant signal processing was required to control the image exposure and colour balance as the usual automatic algorithms for cameras tend to fall when the image is predominantly one colour.

Challenges included the power management; it can be used as a traditional, stand-alone laryngoscope, with the LED in the tip powered from a conventional AA battery inside the handle. If the Video Viewer is mounted on the handle the Lithium rechargeable battery in the viewer takes over, powering both the viewer and the illuminating LED in the blade tip. The high image quality camera chip and high intensity white LED light source provide a clear image of the laryngeal structures.

Achievement: A complete electronic design and camera module design, incorporating power management, video signal processing and user interface.

The Venner AP Advance Video Laryngoscope was the winner of the 2011 Red Dot Design Award in the field of life sciences and medicine.
“The jury have returned a verdict that the Venner A.P. Advance is an outstanding piece of equipment right up to and including its finest details. A medical tool which is simple to understand, the video laryngoscope uses the benefits of modern technology, and also combines selected materials. This makes the Venner A.P. Advance a device which not only meets the demands of patients and medical staff, it also exceeds them.” [1]

For Red Dot winners, product design, Subject: life science and medicine see more here.