Process of making an endotracheal tube

Abstract

An endotracheal tube having utility in one lung ventilation has a curvature of predetermined radius formed in its distal end so that it is easily introducible into a left bronchus or a right bronchus of a trachea. The curvature is produced by first inserting a straight copper tube into the distal free end of a conventional straight endotracheal tube. The copper tube is then bent into the desired radius of curvature and the distal end of the endotracheal tube is inserted into an oven at a temperature of about one hundred seventy degrees to soften the thermoplastic materials of which the endotracheal tube is made. After the thermoplastic materials have softened and conformed to the curvature of the copper tube, the distal end is allowed to cool and the copper tube is then removed therefrom. When cooled, the distal end of the endotracheal tube maintains its curvature when the copper tube is withdrawn due to the thermoplastic quality of the materials from which the endotracheal tube is made.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.