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Archie I J Brain
Brain in 2009
Born (1942-07-02) 2 July 1942 (age 81)
Kobe, Japan
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Known forInventor of laryngeal mask airway
Scientific career
FieldsAnaesthesia

Archie Brain (born 2 July 1942) is a British anaesthetist best known as the inventor of the laryngeal mask. The LMA has been used over 300 million times worldwide in elective anaesthesia and emergency airway management.

Biography[edit]

Brain returned to the UK in April 1980 and took up a post as a lecturer at the Royal London Hospital under Professor Jimmy Payne. He set out to determine the electromagnetic field strength required to block the action potential along a nerve. This involved encircling a frog nerve-muscle preparation with an electromagnetic coil.[1] In 1982, he had his first publication: a letter to the editor suggesting that alcuronium should be used instead of succinylcholine for "crash" induction.[2]

Brain submitted patent applications for 12 new devices, including one to assist venepuncture, one to prevent obstruction of anaesthetic trolleys by cables, one to apply a specific amount of cricoid pressure, and even a rotating bed for use in intensive care to prevent bed-sores. The laryngeal mask, LMA Classic was his 13th patent application and was granted in 1982.[3] The LMA Classic was sold by LMA International NV, a company sold to Teleflex Inc in 2012 for $276m.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wali FA, Brain AIJ. Inhibition of nerve conduction by electromagnetic induction of the frog sciatic nerve – gastrocnemius muscle preparation. Jap J Physiol 1989;39:303–310.
  2. ^ Brain AI. The rapid induction tecnique for Caesarean section. Anaesthesia 1982;37:345.
  3. ^ Joseph R. Brimacombe, Laryngeal Mask Airway: Principles and Practice, Second Edition (2005), pp. 10–11.
  4. ^ "Teleflex to buy LMA International for $276 mln". Reuters. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

Further reading[edit]

  • Joseph R. Brimacombe, Laryngeal Mask Airway: Principles and Practice, Second Edition, Saunders, 2005. ISBN 0-7020-2700-6