About Us
Our Mission
Video Laryngoscopes (VL) have significantly improved airway management and perioperative safety in most modern medical facilities. Yet, traditional VL systems can cost thousands, making it unaffordable for many under resourced facilities around the world. We have the technology today to change that. 3D printers allow for affordable manufacturing of low volume products. Combine a 3D printed blade with today's available consumer electronics and you have an incredibly useful and affordable VL system that can help to improve patient safety for the most vulnerable populations. This is not something we just made up, but it has been tested and published multiple times already (see LINKS). It was easy to find information regarding the use of 3D printed video laryngoscopes online, but we could not find an easy resource center that provided a quality printable blade as well as specific information on what scope to buy, which devices are compatible, and how to put it all together. So we decided to see if we could do it ourselves.
We started off by designing and building one VL system. We sent it with a medical missions team that traveled to the Philippines. It was a great success. Every anesthesia provider on the team tried the VL. Many wanted to order one for themselves, including the locals. We then took what we learned from that experience and looked for ways to improve our system. With the AirAngel blade and this website, we want to make what we've learned available to everyone. We want it to be easy, affordable, and useful.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
-John 15:12
This project was born from the belief that God, the creator of this world, loves each and every one of us unconditionally. He calls on us to use our resources and skills to care for and serve the poor and sick of this world. The AirAngel Project is an attempt to give those who live in developing nations the same opportunity for airway safety that most of us have when we go under anesthesia.
If you are a foreign health care provider or medical missions worker, we want you to have access to an affordable and reliable VL system. If you are looking to improve your VL skills with simulation training, we want you to have the tools you need in order to develop and learn. Our goal is for every under resourced hospital, first responder organization, and training program to have access to a reliable VL.
Project Contributors
Bryan Archpru, CRNA, Founder and Creator of AirAngelblade.org
Bryan created the AirAngel Blade and Airangelblade.org as a way increase global access to an affordable video laryngoscope. He works as the lead designer, web developer, and social media moderator. He has been involved with foreign mission work to Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico, and Guatemala.
Steven Bazan, CRNA, Co-Founder
The AirAngel Project
Steven joined Bryan and co-founded The AirAngel Project. He oversees audio/visual projects and contributes to prototype design and overall planning. He and his wife have led several mission projects to Juarez, Mexico where they built homes and staffed medical clinics for under served communities.
Eric Kramer, CRNA, DNP, FNP
Dr. Kramer has an extensive history traveling the world for medical mission work, austere medicine, and has a great deal of knowledge about 3D printing. His heart for humanity has taken him from war-torn Mosul, Iraq to running an Ebola clinic deep in the Congo. He has been an invaluable resource to this project and has contributed as a design and engineer consultant as well as a prototype manufacturer.
Gabriel Prado Araujo, ER physician, SAMU physician (Brazil)
Dr. Araujo, who lives in Joinville-SC, Brazil, has donated his valuable time as a consultant on design and his feedback has contributed to prototype development, specifically with our pediatric blades.
Dr. Manuel Villasana,
Anesthesiology Resident
(Venezuela)
Dr. Villasana is currently an anesthesiology resident at the Central University of Venezuela. For his thesis research he is currently performing a study titled "Airway Management: Effectiveness of the low cost video laryngoscope AirAngel on adult patients". He has also contributed to the project by testing various prototypes as well as representing AirAngel Blade on an international panel discussing available 3D printed video laryngoscopes in South America.