Video Laryngoscopes
Which airway visualization device is best for your facility?
M
ore and more anesthesia providers are reaching for their
video laryngoscopes not just for the difficult intubations,
but for general intubations as well. Here is what to look for
when choosing the best airway visualization device for your facility, as
well as a brief overview of 9 of the leading products on the market.
• Display size. Video laryngoscopes come in 2 flavors: those where
the camera routes to a monitor directly on the handle and those where
the camera is wired to a separate monitor on a cart. Who needs to see
the screen and how the picture is displayed are the first 2 things you
should consider.
Handheld versions have the camera, blade and monitor all in one
device. "Not only is it compact, but it gives the user a clear image and
is extremely useful for those difficult intubations," says Suzanne
Christian, an anesthesia tech in the department of anesthesiology at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
But the video monitors on the handheld devices are pretty small. "The
wide screen is sometimes better, especially at teaching institutions,
because everyone can see," says Julie Kapelan, an anesthesia tech in
the department of anesthesiology at Vanderbilt. An advantage to bigger
monitors: They're easy to see from the head of the bed, says Ms.
Kapelan.
• Camera optics. If you want to capture images and video from the
device, then you're in luck. Newer handheld models have the ability to
capture images and videos, which used to be a feature only on wired
systems. But how the camera takes the image is something to which
you should probably pay attention. Some models use a fiber-optic
bundle that transmits the image to a camera in the handle, while oth-
ers have the camera at the end of the blade, says Robert Loeb, MD,
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JoEllen McBride, PhD | Associate Editor
