Glottic opening detection using deep learning for neonatal intubation with video laryngoscopy

This study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) method to augment video laryngoscopy (VL) by automating the detection of the glottic opening in neonates, as a step toward future studies on improving intubation outcomes. A deep learning model, YOLOv8, was trained on 1623 video frames from 84 neonatal intubations to detect the glottic opening and evaluated using 14-fold cross-validation on metrics like precision and recall. Additionally, it was compared with 25 medical providers of varied intubation experience to assess its relative performance. The model demonstrated a precision of 80.8% and a recall of 75.3% in identifying the glottic opening, detecting it 0.31 s faster than the average medical provider. It performed comparably or better than novice and intermediate providers, and slightly slower than experts. AI-powered tools can aid VL by providing real-time guidance, potentially enhancing neonatal intubation safety and efficiency for less experienced users.