Quantitative assessment of the human pharynx based on cone beam computed tomography

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2011.Includes bibliographical references.Three-dimensional imaging is a rapidly developing area useful for visualizing pharyngeal morphology. The purpose of this study is to implement and validate Airway3D computer software for generating 3D human-airway models from cone-beam computed tomography and to quantify pharyngeal sizes and shapes. This was accomplished by assessing Airway3D's boundaryextraction efficiency, the accuracy of 3D airway models, and the utilization of conventional cephalometric (CCA) and geometric morphometric analyses (GMA). Twenty male and female Digital Imaging in Communications and Medicine (DICOM) formatted volume images were randomly selected from a pre-existing database. Three-dimensional models were automatically generated, digitization was performed, and both processes were assessed for accuracy and reliability. Landmarked 3D models were qualitatively and quantitatively compared between genders, and CCA results were used to validate developing dense-correspondence analysis available. Results showed that Airway3D produced valid 3D models and accurate CCA and GMA. It is concluded that Airway3D can be used to effectively partition pharyngeal morphology into separate and quantifiable measures of size and shape