Before 1943 most laryngoscope blades were long and straight and lifted the epiglottis directly. That year, in The Lancet, Robert Reynolds Macintosh presented “A new laryngoscope”: a short, curved blade.
The idea
The tip of the blade sits in the angle formed by the epiglottis and the base of the tongue. Lifting the handle raises the base of the tongue, which draws up the epiglottis and exposes the larynx.
“…when its short curved blade is in position the tip will fit into the angle made by the epiglottis with the base of the tongue.”
Description of Macintosh's article in The Lancet (1943), as cited by LITFL.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1897 | Robert Reynolds Macintosh is born in New Zealand. |
| 1943 | He publishes “A new laryngoscope” in The Lancet (vol. 241, p. 205). Richard Salt, a technician in his department, builds the first handmade models. |
| Aug 1943 | A US patent application is filed. |
| Jul 1944 | The patent is granted, assigned to The Foregger Company. |
| 1965 | He retires as Emeritus Professor of the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics at Oxford. |
| 1989 | He dies in Oxford. |
Sources
- LITFL · Macintosh laryngoscope
- LITFL · Robert Reynolds Macintosh
- Macintosh RR. A new laryngoscope. Lancet 1943;241(6233):205.
Image: courtesy of PAC (The Protected Airway Collaborative).
Educational content; it does not replace clinical judgment or your institution's guidelines.