Applications

The gold standard for measuring tracheal stenosis is bronchoscopy. The physician can measure the extent of the narrowing. This approach does show up the inflamation of the airways and any internal bleeding of the airways. Bronchoscopy works rather well as long as the trachea is not stenosis smaller than the smallest available bronchoscopy tube. Bronchoscopy alone shows the narrowing but not always the cause of the narrowing epecially if the narrowing is caused by external mass or an associated vascular anomaly. Bronchoscopy with corresponding CT of the trachea gives the physician a better view of the cause of the stenosis.

While magnetic resonance imaging has made great strides in other areas of body imaging, it is not the modality of choice where the airways of the lung is concerned. X-ray CT remains the modality of choice for imaging the trachea. Helical CT is beginning to provide the speeds of scanning needed to acquire volumetric image data sets. Using the patient scan data and our software, VIDA, the trachea and any external mass if present can be seen. Also, the measurements of the trachea and any external mass can be done without the discomfort of the bronchoscopy procedure and the risks associated with it. The stenosis may be view from any angle.

Last modified: Fri Jun 4 15:37:34 CDT