When it’s a matter of life or death, it’s important to constantly improve the industry. Which is why, when U faculty member and anesthesiologist Sean Runnels had an idea for a safer upgrade to breathing tubes and the process of inserting them, it wasn’t difficult to recruit students for his team. He reached out to the Lassonde New Venture Development program to grab talented graduate students and form Through the Cords, LLC.
One of the students involved is Benjamin Fogg, a medical and bioengineering student. He elaborated on the current issues associated with inserting breathing tubes.
“Breathing tubes are used for surgery, or when someone isn’t able to breath on their own,” Fogg said. “Our products have to do with intubation; the devices, an introducer and breathing tubes, make it easier to insert the breathing tubes safely, to reduce injuries, deaths and associated costs.”
The unique design is a color-coordinated device that, when inserted, is easily monitored using a medical camera. The tube is inserted until it is visible on the camera, which itself would have been inserted in the mouth. The physician can then maneuver the tube to assure it is neither going too deep nor too shallow. Learn more at throughthecords.com.
More articles like this in ‘Student Innovation @ the U!’
Find this article and a lot more in the 2017 “Student Innovation @ the U” report. The publication is presented by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to celebrate student innovators, change-makers and entrepreneurs.
