Flinders Biomedical Engineering Equipment Orientation

Laryngoscopes - Basics
What does
"Laryngoscope"
mean?
Laryngo = larynx
Scope = to view
What does it do? It is used to view the larynx.
Flinders Biomedical Engineering
A joint department of Flinders Medical Centre
and Flinders University of South Australia, Faculty of Health Sciences
Physiology The larynx is the area in your airway between the mouth and the trachea. It is otherwise known as the
vocal cords. When a patient requires artificial ventilation, a tube (“endotracheal tube”) is inserted into
the trachea via the mouth or nose. When the tube is being inserted the doctor uses a laryngoscope to
gently lift the tongue to see where the tube is going to ensure the tube goes in the trachea (path to the
lungs) and not the oesophagus (path to the stomach)
How it works The laryngoscope consists of a handle and a blade. There are batteries in the handle, which are
sometimes rechargeable. There is a small light bulb either in the handle or the blade. The
laryngoscopes with the bulb in the handle have a fiberoptic path from the bulb to the end of the blade.
When the blade is pushed into position the light comes on. The blade is inserted into the mouth and is
shaped so that the user can see past the blade into the larynx. There are different sized blades for
Adults, Children and Neo Nates. Often these different blades come as a set with one
handle.
Picture of equipment
Laryngoscope
Orientation pages created and compiled by FBE: mailto:fbe.support@health.sa.gov.au
Back