בשל "הגנת זכויות יוצרים" מובא להלן קישור לתקציר המאמר. לקריאתו בטקסט מלא, אנא פנה/י לספרייה הרפואית הזמינה לך. 

It is nearly 40 yr since Dr Archie Brain first described his prototype of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

The introduction of the LMA as the first supraglottic airway (SGA) must surely be the outstanding development in anaesthesia for a generation.

His new airway was designed for use during both spontaneous and positive pressure ventilation.

Brain acknowledged that obtaining a good seal of the airway when inflation pressures were applied was of importance and that improvements would need to be made to the prototype by developing a range of sizes to improve the airway seal.

Subsequently, a variety of changes have updated the prototype: for instance, an even larger size 5 was introduced, a drainage tube for clearance of gastric contents was incorporated into the structure, a change in shape was made for the intubating laryngeal mask (ILMA), and different materials were used to produce a disposable LMA.