Mercy R&D seeks patent for tonsillectomy tool

As the Jordan Valley Innovation Center building wraps up a roughly $400,000 external facelift to prevent water from leaking in, tenant Mercy Research and Development has produced a new surgical tool for the common tonsillectomy.

For many years, the preferred method of airway management during a tonsillectomy involved passing a thin tube through the oral cavity and vocal chords to the trachea and inserting a laryngoscope to visualize the patient’s airway.

The introduction of the laryngeal mask airway provided physicians with a less invasive and safer way to make room for breathing. However, laryngeal mask airways are said to not be compatible with commonly used oral gags, which keep patients’ mouths open, or tongue blades, which keep the tongue down during a procedure.

As a solution to this problem, Dr. Alan Allphin with Mercy Clinic-Ear, Nose and Throat developed the Adjustable Tongue Blade in cooperation with the Mercy Research and Development team.

“The ATB is compatible with existing mouth gags,” Allphin said in a released statement, “but more importantly accommodates the laryngeal mask airway tube, allowing surgeons to use this newer technology to gain secured airway for patients while making it much more user friendly for the surgeon.”

Mercy Research and Development is currently seeking a patent on the product, and no timeline has been established for commercial use.