Africa (2025-): Airway Foreign Body Retrieval Simulator

DESCRIPTION

Foreign body aspiration (when a small object gets inhaled and partially obstructs the airway) is a serious and often fatal medical emergency, particularly for children under three years old. To remove the foreign body, a bronchoscopy procedure can be performed by a trained surgeon. Unfortunately, the high cost of medical simulators ($1,000-$5,000) used to train surgeons to perform the procedure is prohibitive for practitioners in low-middle income countries (LMICs). The ME capstone team (Bentley Ackerson, Emma Bowden, Hayden Urmston, Ammon Bullinger, Ethan Petersen) created a simulator that accurately simulates the dimensions and flexibility of a child’s airway while remaining affordable (~$15 total material cost) and easy to manufacture.

IMPLEMENTATION

The product will be tested in Africa in Summer 2026, along with a new bronchoscope design.