Eurosurgical appointed as Exclusive Distributor for McGRATH® for all Ireland (Press Release)
Posted on Thu 17th August 2006
Aircraft Medical, the UK medical devices company, which specialises in airway and diagnostic hand held medical devices, has reached an agreement with Eurosurgical Limited (“Eurosurgical”) for exclusive distribution rights in Ireland for the McGrath® Series 5 Laryngoscope (the “McGrath®”), the world’s first fully portable video laryngoscope. The deal was set up on a solid foundation with an initial order for demonstration and customer stock. The award winning device was originally designed by Matt McGrath, Aircraft Medical’s CEO.
Eurosurgical is a wholly Irish owned company established in 1987 with offices in Dublin and Belfast. The company is a major distributor of high quality surgical instrumentation and medical equipment manufactured by world-renowned companies who are specialists in their chosen fields.
The McGrath® video laryngoscope is a hand held medical device, which is used for a common global medical procedure called tracheal intubation. This allows medics to artificially take control of a patients breathing during general anaesthetic.
Of the 100 million general anaesthetics carried out globally per year, approximately 60 million patients are intubated with use of a laryngoscope. Airway problems remain the most frequent cause of death and brain damage associated with anaesthesia. The distribution agreement with Aircraft Medical represents a good strategic fit with Eurosurgical’s product range.
Current working practices in this field use laryngoscopes whose design dates back some 60 years. The McGrath® represents the most significant advancement in laryngoscope design since the 1940’s and is revolutionising global practice of intubation.
The McGrath®’s portability differentiates it from existing video laryngoscopes, which rely on external cables for power and remote monitors. A further key advancement of the McGrath® is that it provides unrivalled vision of the larynx. This is achieved with an onboard miniature camera and display technology, which none of its competitors has. An image of the larynx is captured by Aircraft’s CameraStick™ located inside a patented disposable blade and is transferred through the device to a small flat panel screen mounted at the top of the handle. Clinical studies have demonstrated the McGrath®’s ability to reduce the risks associated with difficult intubations, which can lead to patient trauma, broken teeth, cross infection and in severe circumstances brain damage and death.
Marketing of the McGrath® is aimed at operating theatres (anaesthesiologists), critical care units, ER and other emergency medical services as support for difficult intubation cases and wherever a laryngoscope would be used.
Matt McGrath, CEO of Aircraft Medical commented:
“The deal with Eurosurgical represents an important step for Aircraft Medical as we start to set-up global distriubtion. The Irish healthcare market is a challenging one but we believe that with Eurosurgical’s excellent market knowledge across Northern and Southern Ireland will help us to pave the way. We are very much looking forward to working closely with Eurosurgical to bring the benefits of laryngoscopy to the Irish market.”