Ambu aScope: a New Disposable Flexible Video Laryngoscope
Schirin M.
Missaghi, MD,1
Klaus Krasser,
MD,1 and
Ernst Zadrobilek,
MD2
1
Staff Anesthetist and Intensive Care Physician, Department of
Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Empress Elisabeth Hospital of the City of
Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
2Associate
Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Chairman of the Austrian
Working Group for Airway Management, Vienna, Austria.
Address correspondence and
comments to Schirin M.Missaghi .
Received from Empress
Elisabeth Hospital of the City of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Key Words
Tracheal intubation: Ambu aScope flexible video
laryngoscope.
Published: March 30,
2010.
The correct citation of this
communiction of new equipment and techniques
is:
Missaghi SM, Krasser K,
Zadrobilek E. Ambu aScope: a new disposable flexible video laryngoscope.
Internet Journal of Airway Management 6, 2010-2011.
Available from
URL:
http://www.adair.at/ijam/volume06/newequipment01/default.htm
Date
accessed: month day, year.
Last
updated: May 14, 2010.
Ambu
(Ballerup and Olstykke, Denmark) recently launched the Ambu aScope
(AaS), a new disposable flexible video laryngoscope specifically
designed for tracheal intubation in adult patients. The AsA consists of
an ergonometrically adapted handle with a control unit which directs the
insertion cord. The insertion cord with a maximum outer diameter of 5.3
mm, a working length of 63 cm, and a 100 degree up and down bending
section is equipped with a charge-coupled device sensor and a light
emitting diode and includes a working channel of 0.8 mm with a Luer
connector for application of local anesthetics. A power cord video
cable, emerging from the handle, attaches to a dedicated portable,
light-weight, and battery-powered liquid crystal monitor where the
resulting color image is displayed; a video output enables to view the
image on larger screens. The built-in timer limits the use of the AsA
only in a single patient.
The costs
of the AsA flexible video laryngoscope and the monitor screen are about
230 and 1500 Euro (exclusive value-added taxes, according to the offer
of the Austrian distributor of the AsA, queried in May 2010),
respectively; the Austrian distributor of the AsA has currently a
special offer for a test set including 5 flexible video laryngoscopes
and the monitor screen for about 990 Euro.
The
start-up investment of the AsS is significantly lower than that of
alternative products. The benefits of the AsA are that it eliminates
time and costs of hygienic reprocessing associated with standard
flexible laryngoscopes, requiring a special automatic endoscopy washing
machine, and repair costs. In addition, the AsA eliminates any risks of
cross infection and is always available for use in other patients.
We
evaluated the AsA for orotracheal intubation in 10 patients with
apparently normal airways. Experienced endoscopists had regularly
problems with fogging of the camera system and the presence of
secretions obscuring the view; this is an inherent weekness of the AsA
because the working channel cannot be used for suctioning. We recommend
that the manufacturer should redesign the current model of the AsA and
provide this device with a larger sized working channel and the facility
for suctioning.