Patent ID: 8157919

Claim:
A method for removing biofilm from an interior wall of an endotracheal tube, comprising: providing a non-inflatable, mechanically-actuated cleaning device configured to remove biofilm from an interior wall of an endotracheal tube, wherein the endotracheal tube is inserted into a native airway of a patient and coupled to an external ventilator; wherein said cleaning device comprises an elongate body, an expandable scaffold, an outer sleeve and an actuation assembly; wherein the elongate body comprises a distal end, a proximal end and a longitudinal axis, wherein the expandable scaffold is positioned at the distal end of the elongate body, and wherein the outer sleeve is positioned at least partially over an exterior surface of the scaffold; decoupling the endotracheal tube from the external ventilator; inserting the distal end of the cleaning device into the endotracheal tube while the scaffold is in a radially-collapsed position; providing a visualization element configured to capture images of an interior of the endotracheal tube; advancing the visualization element through a lumen of the elongate body of the cleaning device such that a distal end of the visualization element engages a distal tip of the cleaning device, wherein the distal tip of the cleaning device comprises a viewing window, wherein the cleaning device comprises a retention assembly configured to provide a static backward force on the visualization element within the lumen of the elongate body; mechanically actuating the scaffold using said actuation assembly to expand said scaffold from the radially-collapsed position to a radially-expanded position, thereby expanding the outer sleeve to form a generally smooth removal member configured to contact and remove biofilm from the interior wall of the endotracheal tube; withdrawing the cleaning device from the endotracheal tube while generally maintaining contact between the removal member and biofilm to dislodge at least a portion of said biofilm; and removing said cleaning device from the patient, thereby removing biofilm from the endotracheal tube.