Patcharin Jongjai 2020/04/28 , ( 306 views)
UBU proudly shares that Mr. Thirawat Suwanee, MD., UBU Medical Alumnus from Batch #1, successfully created a medical device that is becoming largely beneficial to medical staff around Thailand. He built a device that includes an attachment of a small camera to the VDO Laryngoscope which helps ease the difficulty of airway operations. Typically, hospitals use the existing VDO Laryngoscope which comes at an expensive cost. Due to this, many small hospitals are not able to afford the device. In light of this coupled with the current Covid-19 crisis, Mr. Thirawat Suwanee, MD., was strongly motivated to discover a way that could help support the operations of medical stuff while also reducing the risk of further Coivd-19 related infections. His innovation remarkably shook the medical community, especially through its market price as his device is marked at hundreds of baht versus the hundred thousands of baht that the existing device is marked at. Due to its effectiveness during operations and low cost, thousands of physicians from all around Thailand have been sharing his product on online platforms and have already used them in multiple emergency room operations.
The inventor of the device himself, Mr. Thirawat Suwannee, MD., stated that he was proud and happy to contribute in the development of medical innovations that can enhance the safety of physicians during their operations, especially in airway medical practices. Generally during intubation practices, physicians often insert an endotracheal tube into their patient’s airway and only have a thin pair of glasses to protect them during the operation. As a result, there is a high-risk of exposure to infection for the physicians. Therefore, a small waterproof camera with a built-in LED light was used to replace the original optical fiber used in the tubes to help alleviate the need to look directly into the patient’s mouths. The capability of this device compared to the existing device is highly comparable but are more affordable. A video presentation explaining how to use the device has been uploaded online and have already been shared among many Thai physicians making the video viral. Due to its affordability, every hospital in Thailand will be able to have access to use the device in their regular medical and emergency rooms. Furthermore, after the release of this device to the market, many hospitals have cancelled their orders on the existing device to transition towards using this new affordable, yet highly effective innovation instead. It is projected that in the future, this device may be used as an educational resource for medical students in classrooms. Additionally, it may also be used for other medical operations such as endoscopies.
As an alumnus of the UBU community, Mr. Thirawat Suwannee, MD. vividly demonstrates the strong commitment the university instills towards improving the quality of life for all in Thailand. UBU is extremely proud of his contributions to the medical field to further develop the country and help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 disease.
Revised and translated by: Jarinda Boonjan
Original (Thai) version by: Plern Wichaiwong
English revised by: Thaviny Shaipitisiri
Photos by: Plern Wichaiwong