Laryngeal mask assembly

Abstract

An artificial airway device (also known as a Laryngeal Mask Assembly, “LMA,” or Disposable Laryngeal Mask Assembly, “DLMA”) used to facilitate lung ventilation in an unconscious patient and methods for using an artificial airway device. The device includes a curved but flexible airway tube and a hollow mask support at one end of the airway tube. The mask support includes a fairly rigid support base and a flexible, generally annular peripheral skirt which is attached to the support base. A distal tip of the mask support is narrowed and projects outwardly, thereby providing a nose portion which is used to easily locate the distal tip of the mask in the entrance into the esophagus. The skirt is capable of conforming to the space behind the larynx so as to form a seal around the circumference of the laryngeal inlet without penetrating into the interior of the larynx. The skirt surrounds a hollow interior space or lumen of the mask base into which the airway tube opens. During insertion of the LMA into the patient, the skirt is contracted, to make the LMA easier to insert into the patient's airway. The skirt of the mask can be selectively manipulated, e.g. expanded, to improve the sealing contact with the tissues around the circumference of the laryngeal inlet. The skirt, when expanded, and the support base form a “cup-like” shape, which enhances the stabilization and sealing of the mask in the airway.