In the field and in the ER, where seconds matter, emergency medical personnel face many unknowns and wildly challenging conditions which lower their chances of success.

But what if successful endotracheal intubation could be less reliant on ideal conditions and years of specialized training?

In a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, UC Santa Barbara researchers David Haggerty, Elliot Hawkes and collaborators demonstrate a non-electronic soft robotic device that quickly and autonomously guides a soft tube into the trachea.

Initial device testing with highly trained users yielded a 100% success rate, and a 96% overall success rate with non-expert prehospital medical providers.