Figure 1.
Patients of TB group were instructed to wear TB appliance.
A) The front view. B) The right view. C) The left view.
Figure 2.
3D model of the upper airway was reconstructed.
A) The upper airway was subdivided into three parts by two planes perpendicular to the sagittal plane and each region was highlighted in different colors. The landmarks used for defining the planes were: PNS, posterior nasal spine; SE, the superior border of the epiglottis. B) Each region of the upper airway was reconstructed respectively. The nasopharynx is the region from the top of the upper airway to PNS. Oropharynx region is between PNS and SE, and the hypopharynx is from SE to the level of the third cervical vertebra (C3).
Figure 3.
The pre- (T1) and post-treatment (T2) data of TB patients was registered.
A) Point registration with the most protruding points on the anterior cranial base. B) STL registration of T1 and T2 models in front. C) STL registration of T1 and T2 models in lateral. D) The upper airway models of T1 and T2 data. E) STL registration of the upper airway of T1 and T2 data. F) The upper airway model of the control data. G) STL registration of the mandible of T1 and T2 data in the sagittal view. H) STL registration of the mandible of T1 and T2 data in the axial view. I) Displacement of the mandible during TB treatment was measured.
Figure 4.
The pharyngeal morphology and the hyoid bone were measured.
A) Changes of the upper airway between T1 and T2 data in the axial view. B) The upper airway of the control data in the axial view. C) Horizontal displacement of the hyoid (H) relative to C3, and the perpendicular distance of H to the line connecting C3 and menton (Me) were measured. D) The largest anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LR) dimensions for each cross-sectional slice were measured.
Table 1.
Definition of landmarks used in this study.
Table 2.
Definitions of airway measurements variables.
Table 3.
The measured variables in TB group and control group.