Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children
Three clear (slightly yellowed) tubes of varying diameters. Each tube is attached to a standard metal 15mm endotracheal connector by a barbed friction fit. The connectors have a curved elbow. Each elbow is marked with a band of coloured tape. Tubes are marked white, red, and black respectively from narrowest to widest.
Accession Number: 2025.sk.76
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Plastic (likely silicone), Metal.
Printed along each tube: “PORTED [diameter, “4.5”, “5.5”, and “7.5” respectively] mm.// MADE IN ENGLAND// Z.79″
Stamped on the metal adapter: “MIE”
largest Height = 1.5, Width = 1.5, Length = 25.5.
An endotracheal tube provides a temporary artificial airway for a patient under general anesthesia.
This is an uncuffed design, likely for oral and nasal use. These tubes were likely designed to be reused given their condition.
These items are intact and in cosmetically good condition. Given the tendency of silicone to yellow with age, thetubes were likely clear originally and have discoloured. The metallic finish on the metal adapters is corroded, especially on the middle “5.5 mm” example.
Associated Instruments:
Portex Ltd, Hythe (Kent), England; Connector manufactured by Medical Industrial Equipment Limited (M.I.E). London, England.
Date of Manufacture: c. 1974 – 1996.
Provenance:
Gene L. Colice (1991) “Technical Standards for Tracheal Tubes.” Clinics in Chest Medicine, 12(3): 433–48.
Note that the Z.79 marking on the tubes indicates that they correspond to the standards of the American National Standards Committee Z79 on Anesthesia and Respiratory Equipment. These standards were first promulgated in 1974 and were updated in 1983 (See Colice 1991, 436-437).