Company Background
Matt McGrath, CEO, founded Aircraft Medical in June 2001 after commencing work on the McGRATH® laryngoscope project in 1999 in response to a design brief issued by the Royal Society of Arts in London. The original prototypes for the McGRATH® laryngoscope attracted the highest award from the RSA as recognition of outstanding design achievement. The company subsequently attracted industry awards from the Audi Design Foundation, The Princes Trust, Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise, and today is backed by The Wellcome Trust, Private Equity and RBS.
Medical Background
Each year tens of millions of people undergo a medical procedure called Tracheal intubation; allowing a trained medical professional to artificially take control of the patient’s breathing. Intubation using a laryngoscope requires a fully qualified anaesthetist or paramedic to insert a tube through a patient’s vocal chords and into their trachea (the vessel which carries air into the lungs).
The design of the McGRATH® is based on extensive research into the modern day experiences of over 1,500 medical professionals. Due to shortfalls of existing equipment and the level of skill required, several million difficult intubations are experienced each year. Each month in Europe and the United States, there have been an estimated 30 cases of permanent brain damage or death as a result of failed intubations since the 1980’s.
Currently, intubation in adults is attempted almost exclusively with the Macintosh laryngoscope, which was designed in the 1940’s, with which a view of the trachea is achieved by manipulating the anatomy, sometimes with great force in order to see the larynx. Complications arise when a view cannot be obtained. Intubation is carried out for a variety of reasons, and in various locations as follows:
· In an operating theatre, to ventilate (artificially control breathing) while the normal breathing reflex is suppressed by anaesthesia; an anaesthetist usually carries this out.
· In an emergency room/casualty department both because the patient has stopped breathing and therefore needs to be ventilated, or to circumvent a blockage so that the patient can breathe unaided. An anaesthetist or an emergency doctor usually carries out this procedure.
· In the field, for similar reasons to the emergency room; trained paramedics or qualified fire crew usually carries this out.
Background to the McGRATH®
The McGRATH® project aimed from an early stage to address the complications associated with difficult intubations, cross contamination of instruments, ease of use and anxieties in the training environment. The McGRATH® Series 5 addresses a significant global market opportunity. It is designed specifically to improve efficiency in global practice allowing users to intubate as normal but with far less force, with greater ease and much higher levels of success particularly in more difficult intubations. It should be noted that difficult intubations have an increased risk of patient trauma, broken teeth, cross contamination and, in severe cases, brain damage and death. The McGRATH® technology has been designed to help eliminate these risks.