This device is designed to be an alternative to the traditional conscious intubation with a cooperative patient. It harnesses the negative pressure created during inhalation and utilizes it to advance a guidewire into the trachea, which then allows for endotracheal intubation. The negative pressure created during a deep inhalation will force air through a hollow delivery tube and carry a Sail-tipped wire through the vocal cords and into the trachea. Once the wire has been deployed, a syringe is attached and air is inflated into the expandible polymer sail. This will expand the sail into a balloon shape, create traction against the walls of the trachea and secure the guide-wire. An endotracheal tube may then be advanced blindly, using the wire as a guide to correct tracheal position and the NPI device removed.
