Trauma Cervical Collar Preserves the Airway

A cervical collar for trauma patients has been designed to protect the neck and maintain an open airway in a non-invasive, simple, and quick to operate approach.

The LuboCollar, under development by Hadasit (Jerusalem, Israel), the technology transfer company of Hadassah University Hospitals (Jerusalem, Israel), and Ramot (Tel Aviv, Israel), the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University (Israel), works by restricting the movement of the head relative to the rest of the body. This is achieved by using a "jaw-thrust”-like knob to maneuver the mandible, pushing it forward in the direction of the chin. This procedure reduces the need for field intubation, often needed to maintain a patent airway. The collar has demonstrated positive results in a two-part phase I safety study. The LuboCollar was developed and named after Dr. Omri Lubovsky, a physician in the department of orthopedic surgery at Hadassah and his sister, Michal Peleg-Lubovsky a mechanical engineer at Tel Aviv University.

"The LuboCollar has the ability to save the lives of trauma patients in pre-hospital and emergency treatments. I demonstrated the LuboCollar to some ER [emergency room] colleagues during a recent trip to the U.S. The feedback was positive regarding the design of the device and its potential,” said Dr. Jacob Assaf, head of the department of emergency medicine at Hadassah.

All patients injured in trauma situations are at risk for cervical spine instability and air blockage. Though these patients are transported by pre-hospital teams with a cervical collar to protect the cervical spine, existing cervical collars ensure cervical spine stabilization but do not protect the airway of the patient, which is opened by invasive means when necessary.


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