Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2021 Mar;76(3):366-372.
doi: 10.1111/anae.15238. Epub 2020 Aug 27.

Anatomic accuracy of airway training manikins compared with humans

M B Blackburn  1 , S C Wang  2 , B E Ross  2 , S A Holcombe  2 , K M Kempski  3 , A N Blackburn  4 , R A DeLorenzo  5 , K L Ryan  1
Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

Anatomic accuracy of airway training manikins compared with humans

M B Blackburn et al. Anaesthesia. 2021 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Airway simulators, or training manikins, are frequently used in research studies for device development and training purposes. This study was designed to determine the anatomic accuracy of the most frequently used low-fidelity airway training manikins. Computerised tomography scans and ruler measurements were taken of the SynDaver® , Laerdal® and AirSim® manikins. These measurements were compared with human computerised tomography (CT) scans (n = 33) from patients at the University of Michigan Medical Center or previously published values. Manikin measurements were scored as a percentile among the distribution of the same measurements in the human population and 10 out of 27 manikin measurements (nine measurements each in three manikins) were outside of two standard deviations from the mean in the participants. All three manikins were visually identifiable as outliers when plotting the first two dimensions from multidimensional scaling. In particular, the airway space between the epiglottis and posterior pharyngeal wall, through which airway devices must pass, was too large in all three manikins. SynDaver, Laerdal and AirSim manikins do not have anatomically correct static dimensions in relation to humans and these inaccuracies may lead to imprecise airway device development, negatively affect training and cause over-confidence in users.

Keywords: airway; anatomic accuracy; manikin; trainers.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cook TM, Woodall N, Frerk C. A national survey of the impact of NAP4 on airway management practice in United Kingdom hospitals: closing the safety gap in anaesthesia, intensive care and the emergency department. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2016; 117: 182-90.
    1. Je S, Cho Y, Choi HJ, Kang B, Lim T, Kang H. An application of the learning curve-cumulative summation test to evaluate training for endotracheal intubation in emergency medicine. Emergency Medicine Journal 2015; 32: 291-4.
    1. Sakles JC, Chiu S, Mosier J, Walker C, Stolz U. The importance of first pass success when performing orotracheal intubation in the emergency department. Academic Emergency Medicine 2013; 20: 71-8.
    1. Sebesta J. Special lessons learned from Iraq. Surgical Clinics of North America 2006; 86: 711-26.
    1. Sayre MR, Sakles JC, Mistler AF, Evans JL, Kramer AT, Pancioli AM. Field trial of endotracheal intubation by basic EMTs. Annals of Emergency Medicine 1998; 31: 228-33.

Publication types