Patent ID: 8887717

Claim:
An introducer for inserting a surgical airway catheter into a tracheotomy opening in a patient's trachea, the introducer comprising: a handle at a proximal end of the introducer; a rod-shaped main section connected to the handle; an opening-enlarging region connected to the main section; and a rod-shaped distal tip connected to the opening-enlarging region, wherein: the opening-enlarging region has a non-circular cross-section having (i) a smallest cross-sectional dimension smaller than a cross-sectional diameter of the distal tip and (ii) a largest cross-sectional dimension larger than the cross-sectional diameter of the distal tip; and the opening-enlarging region enables an operator of the introducer to widen an initial tracheotomy opening in the trachea by inserting first the distal tip into the initial tracheotomy opening and then the opening-enlarging region, whereby transition from the cross-sectional diameter of the distal tip to the largest cross-sectional dimension of the opening-enlarging region causes the initial tracheotomy opening to widen.