A method for quantitative measurement of gas volume changes in upper airway

A method for quantitative measurement of gas volume changes in upper airway is presented in this paper. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a novel Cone Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) technique for quantitative measurement of gas volume in upper airway. Our application is defining and tracking minute volume changes (a few milliliters) of airways caused by surgery, such as removal of tonsils in children, which increases volume. Doctors need to track the volume changes of airways for administering effective treatments. Traditionally, there are three ways to measure the gas volume in airway and lung. One is to use a spirometer. The second one is the plethysmographic method. The third one is the radiographic method. Spirometers are not able to measure minute volume changes of a few milliliters. The pleythysmographic method is not commonly used because it requires expensive additional equipment and is difficult for many patients to perform. Traditional radiographic method requires only a radiograph, but it is labor intensive and most studies were done in animals in vitro. The proposed process is a semi-automatic radiographic method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most efficient radiographic method for quantitative measurement of gas volume changes in upper airway of human beings in vivo.