Rapid prototyping and medical product development - getting there fast / first

Abstract

When a patient is intubated during anesthesia it is very important that the Endo-tracheal (ET) tube remains in the correct place. If the tube deviates from the correct position it can cause one or both lungs to collapse and can be fatal. The idea behind the product was to design and manufacture a product that held an ET tube in place in a more secure manner than currently. It is common for an ET tube to move and or become dislodged due to various extraneous reasons. As with any new product, there was uncertainty about the design. Traditionally this meant the manufacturing of a hard tool and determining the right design by trail and error. Hard tooling allows for some small changes to be made, but if the changes are radical a new tool will have to be designed and manufactured. Prototyping revolutionized this process by simplifying the development iteration process, which means changes can be made quicker and easier, the costs will be lowered and the time-to-market is shortened.