Tracheotomy device – and the amazing story behind it – inspires VCU engineering students

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One horrific night in 2019 could have left Kathy Crockett dead and her husband arrested. Instead, it led her to invent a potentially lifesaving device - and Virginia Commonwealth University students are helping build it.

More than 30 years ago, Crockett was intubated for surgery with a tube that was too large, and it scarred the inside of her airway. Since then, she has had more than 30 procedures to alleviate the damage.

All it took on that fateful night in 2019 was for Crockett to simply roll over in bed in her Chester home. That subtle movement dislodged mucus in her throat, which blocked her airway. She frantically gestured for help to her husband, who finally grabbed the closest instrument on hand - a dull pocketknife - and desperately tried to open an airway.

There was too much scar tissue to get through, but he finally managed to create a tiny pinhole - too small for a tube, but just enough for Crockett to take a couple of breaths before passing out. Amazingly, when the paramedics' wheeled stretcher hit a small rock on the path outside her home, that oh-so-subtle shift cleared her airway.

Crockett was able to exonerate her husband for stabbing her in the throat, but she spent two weeks in the hospital. One day, the idea for an Autoinjecetor Tracheotomy Device came to her - a product that senses the correct insertion point and releases a scalpel and breathing tube into the patient.

"I started writing down and scribbling on a piece of paper," Crockett said. "I think it was really God that led me to this because it came within five minutes and I had it. … The fact that, because of a stupid rock in my yard, I'm here. This is bigger than me."

The components that will release the loaded spring and fire the apparatus, next to a model of the anatomy of the cricothyroid membrane. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

The AutoTrach was one of the prototypes at this year's VCU College of Engineering Capstone Design Expo, which highlights work of undergraduate seniors. Held April 24 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, the annual event showcased more than 100 student projects and presentations, the result of more than eight months of work among students, project partners and faculty advisors. The prototypes and inventions focused on solutions that could have a lasting impact on society and humankind.

Crockett initially gave Johns Hopkins University - where she has been treated several times over the years - first dibs on the device, but since she had already patented it, it wasn't eligible for the university's program. She then brought it to VCU Engineering.

After hearing Crockett's story, Department of Biomedical Engineering chair Rebecca Heise, Ph.D., was very interested, having had prior experience working with Boston Scientific and VCU Health clinicians on bronchoscopy and related airway devices.

"This project seemed like an offshoot of that prior experience with an important and impactful potential," said Heise, who served as faculty advisor. "I am excited to see where the project goes as the prototype progresses towards a full lifesaving device."

Lily Hardy-McGurty was drawn to work on AutoTrach because of those lifesaving capabilities.

"I thought that this was super interesting because there's nothing really like it on the market," said Hardy-McGurty, who plans to take a gap year to work in a hospital before studying to become a physician's assistant. "And I thought it had a lot of potential. And I thought it could definitely save lives. And that's what I'm in this field for right now."

Team member Taj Sangha, who plans to attend medical school after a gap year, also was grateful for the chance to work on such a worthwhile project.

"I've always wanted to work in emergency medicine, and this is probably the closest thing you can find to that," he said. "Someone who's on the site, addressing a patient who's injured or choking on something, it's an emergency situation. There's a lot of adrenaline, a lot of things going on, and everything needs to be precise. So I like the whole concept of it."

VCU biomedical engineering students Taj Sangha (left), Lily Hardy-McGurty and Abi Maina were drawn to work on the automatic tracheostomy device project in part for its potential lifesaving impact. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

The cubelike device has sensors to detect the insertion point. One button releases a spring that fires the scalpel, and another pushes a blade to have the spring fire and release the endotracheal tube.

"We started from a pretty bare bones patent," said Abi Maina, who rounded out the student team. "We had to work from the ground up as a result of our own efforts to be able to figure out what we wanted to accomplish internally. With our initial device, we wanted it to be sensor-guided, mechanically actuated, and possess both visual and audio cues to note or to inform users of how to deploy the device."

All of that sounded great in theory, she said, but it was really ambitious. For the sake of time, the team focused on just the internal mechanical mechanisms. They - and Crockett - hope that next year's seniors will want to continue the project in their Capstone Design work.

"I just hope this … carries through to fruition because I think it'll be a big thing for the world, everywhere. I just really hope that we can get it done," Crockett said. "Faced with having to push a button or slice the throat is a hell of a choice. And I don't want my husband or my family or anybody's family to have to go through that again."

In addition to Capstone Design coursework, the expo featured products from Vertically Integrated Projects teams. The VIP program provides undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in multiyear, multidisciplinary, team-based projects under the guidance of faculty and graduate students in their areas of expertise.

For a list of award recipients from the 2026 Capstone Design Expo, visit this webpage.