Cleveland Family Study

13.1 Background

Pharyngometry is used to examine the interior airway space of a patient’s throat. Unlike the Cephalometric X-ray, which provides the researcher with a 2 dimensional representation of airway space, the Pharyngometer offers a view of the volume of area within the airway. This is accomplished by the utilization of sonic waves. The focus of interest is the minimum and mean cross sectional area. This correlates closely with airway size and space.

Much like a dolphin or a bat emits sonic waves to judge the distance between itself and an object, the Pharyngometer creates sonic waves, which travel down the throat of a patient and measure the amount of space within it. These measurement values are translated into a graphic representation, which identifies different areas of interest within the oral airway. The oral cavity, oropharyngeal junction, epiglottis and hypopharynx would be some examples of these, along with the one area we are most concerned with: the oropharynx.