Level EX
Airway EX
This virtual surgery
app (level-ex.com) lets
physicians practice
intubating difficult air-
ways on their mobile
devices. With life-like
simulations based on
real-life cases anes-
thesiologists have sub-
mitted to the company,
providers can practice
decision-making and maneuvering through and around challenging
pathologies and other airway issues. Make a bad move and the simula-
tion can even cough out the scope. The app is free and can be used to
earn CME credits — though you have to pay for those.
"It's a nice simulation program," says Dr. Sinha. "They can create a
simulation of a rare event, like a tumor in the airway, and let practi-
tioners practice on scenarios they're not ordinarily going to see.
Ideally, you don't want to have to deal with something like that for the
first time in an OR setting, if it is possible to practice it without the
sphincter-tightening that may be associated with a real live situa-
tion."
It would be nice, says Dr. Sinha, if you could simply create your own
model with an MRI scan and be able to practice in virtual reality with
every potentially challenging patient who crosses your path. That
capability may be coming down the road. One minor drawback is that
with the simulation you use your fingertips, not your thumb and wrist:
"It's a visual aid not a tactile aid," he says.
9 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6
• VIRTUAL TASK TRAINER Airway EX lets you practice difficult maneuvers and effectively visual-
ize scope configuration of medical devices.
