A new, low-cost, video stylet for easier intubation was launched at CES 2025 by UK consultancy 42 Technology. As healthcare demands continue to rise, MedTech companies face increasing pressure to innovate quickly while meeting complex regulations and embracing advancing technologies.
Balancing Innovation and Regulatory Compliance in MedTech
MedTech requires both innovation and rigour when developing next-generation devices to ensure compliance with stringent medical device standards. Both of these are evident in the latest product developed and launched by Cambridgeshire-based 42 Technology (42T).
Introducing LARi: A Game-Changing Video Stylet
42T has launched an innovative, video-capable medical device at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2025 that is designed to improve the speed and safety of patient intubation during surgery and emergency care.
LARi is a low-cost, single-use video stylet that works exactly like conventional intubation stylets routinely used by anaesthetists to shape endotracheal tubes (ETT) and help guide them through a patient’s vocal cords. The new device integrates seamlessly into their existing workflow while providing a real-time video feed of the entire intubation process to help navigate difficult airways and ensure proper placement in the patient’s trachea.
42T Showcases Innovation at CES 2025
LARi is one of four pioneering innovations 42T was showcasing at CES (7 to 10 January, Las Vegas, US). The others include:
- Indi, a microfibre filter system for home washing machines developed with Cleaner Seas Group. The system has received multiple industry awards for improving the health of our oceans.
- FuseOhm, a low-cost, remote, and real-time monitoring system to help electricity network operators extend asset lifetimes as they continue upgrading to smart grids.
- HYBRID, a new range of gas leak detection products featuring breakthrough sensing technology, and developed for US company Heath Consultants.
42T also distributed printed copies of its latest annual technology trend report, Shaping the Future of Technology, at CES. This year’s report builds on the 2024 edition by highlighting three transformative megatrends helping to drive business competitiveness: usability, sustainability, and digital-physical convergence.
These trends and an understanding of them are providing actionable insights to help businesses create innovative new products and experiences that resonate with people, protect the planet, and generate measurable value. 42T’s new report can be downloaded free from here.
Developing LARi: A Collaboration Between 42T and Turning Mode
LARi is being developed with Turning Mode, an innovation lab for healthcare and medical devices, with 42T showing the first working prototype on its booth at CES (LVCC, North Hall, #8871). The two companies are working together on a commercialisation strategy to help bring LARi to market.
Addressing Challenges in Patient Intubation
Many intubations are now considered complex procedures—because of a patient’s anatomy, weight, or other injuries—which can delay proper oxygenation in emergency scenarios or cause damage to a patient’s vocal cords, oesophagus, and other upper airway structures.
Although existing video-enabled tools can help, they often have significant limitations. Many require specialist training, involve reusable components that need cleaning and sterilisation, and provide limited visual feedback. For example, bronchoscopes allow anaesthetists to see into a patient’s trachea, but the scope has to be removed before inserting the ETT, increasing the risk of misplacement.
How LARi Enhances Intubation Safety and Efficiency
LARi is the first video stylet specifically designed to integrate with an anaesthetist’s existing tools and workflows to help with fast and more accurate tube placement. It provides a continuous real-time view of the entire intubation process, as well as being easy to use and requiring no additional training.
The video feed from the tip of the ETT is displayed on either a customised laryngoscope-mounted display or an external monitor.
About 42 Technology: Innovation in MedTech and Beyond
42 Technology (42T) is a product design and innovation consultancy, based near Cambridge (UK), that helps create technically advanced new products and enhanced manufacturing processes for some of the world’s best-known brands, as well as start-ups and SMEs. It works across three key sectors: consumer, industrial, and healthcare and life sciences.
The company was founded in 1998 and has established a strong reputation for partnering with its clients to solve complex technical problems and develop brilliantly successful products. The team comprises engineers, scientists, and designers and offers a diverse range of skillsets that includes ethnographic research and usability engineering, product and system design, device testing, and regulatory compliance.
42T is fully committed to innovation and sustainability at every stage: from generating its initial ideas and concepts for clients through to supporting them towards net zero. It also has particular expertise in optimising manufacturing processes—for example, to improve energy efficiencies, reduce waste, and reconfigure existing production assets to accommodate sustainable materials or new product formats.
Advancing Medical Device Innovation for Better Patient Care
Developing innovative medical devices requires tackling challenges in safety, efficacy, and regulatory compliance while ensuring products meet user needs and deliver exceptional patient care.
42T collaborates with medical device companies, startups, and innovators to bring groundbreaking products to life. Its expertise covers device development, regulatory support, human factors engineering, and usability studies, ensuring products meet the highest standards for both patients and regulators.
With the shift from clinic to home care, companies must innovate while enhancing usability. Whether developing advanced home care devices or creating sustainable solutions, we provide the expertise needed to deliver products that truly make a difference.
The launch of LARi at CES 2025 marks a significant milestone in intubation technology, demonstrating how innovation in video stylet development can enhance patient safety and streamline medical procedures.
