J Rhinol.  2000 Nov;7(2):127-131.

Can the Acoustic Rhinometry Reflect the Real Volume Change of the Nasal Cavity?

• Won JY
• Chung YS
• Kim JH
• Kim YJ
• Lee BJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acoustic rhinometry (AR) measures nasal cavity geometry by analyzing reflected acoustic impulses. The authors aimed to find out whether AR could reflect the volume change developed from conchotomy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
To establish the test-retest reliability of the AR, 20 normal nasal cavities were tested with AR before conducting main study. The volumes of the 31 conchotomy specimens were measured with water displacement method (WDM). The nasal volume changes in accordance with conchotomy operations were measured with AR, and the paired values were compared.
RESULTS
AR revealed highly consistent results as there was statistically significant correlation between test and retest values (r=0.98, p<0.0001). The volume of the conchotomy specimens measured with WDM was 1.40+/-0.63 cm3 (mean+/-SD) and the volume change measured with AR was 1.49+/-1.48 cm3 (mean+/-SD). There was statistically significant correlation between the two values (r=0.55, p<0.01), though they were not so consistent with each other.
CONCLUSION
The nasal volume change after conchotomy measured with AR correlates with the conchotomy specimen volume with statistical significance, though the correlation between them does not always show consistency.

Keyword

Acoustic rhinometry; Conchotomy; Water displacement method; Nasal volume

MeSH Terms

Acoustics*
Nasal Cavity*
Rhinometry, Acoustic*
Water
Water