TissueDB/Tissues/Trachea
The trachea (windpipe) is the central conducting airway between the larynx and the carina. Per Dr Catherine Mohr (24 June 2026), it is kept as its own tissue class — "a special form of cartilage with fibrous rings in between in a special config" — distinct from generic Cartilage (the isolated laryngeal cartilages and rings) and from Bronchial Tissue (the branching airways below the carina). Airway simulators reproduce the tracheal rings and lumen as a recognisable, palpable landmark for front-of-neck access, intubation, and bronchoscopy training.
Materials
| Material | Visual | Tactile | Simulator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical-grade silicone, Shore 45 | – | – | Pediatric Front-of-Neck Access Simulator (Kovatch) | A single moulded silicone tracheal model, cast from 3D-printed CT-derived anatomy of a 5-year-old child, giving palpable thyroid- and cricoid-cartilage landmarks and a puncturable cricothyroid membrane for needle cricothyroidotomy.[1] |
| Stratasys Agilus30 (Polyjet J750) | Yes | Partial | Paediatric Airway Management Trainer (Carter) | Paediatric trachea printed to the carina from infant CT data in Agilus30 (selected for tissue fidelity); examined with a rigid bronchoscope.[2] |
| Commercial Laerdal manikin moulded trachea (integrated) | Yes | Partial | Suction-Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination Simulator (Kumar) | Moulded trachea and glottic inlet of a Laerdal airway management trainer; the intubation target reached through the cleared, soiled airway during SALAD practice.[3] |
| Ex vivo bovine trachea | Yes | Yes | Bronchoscopy-Guided Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy Simulator (Kattan) | Real mammalian trachea the operator palpates and punctures; provides the tracheal-ring landmarks. Source: Kattan et al. Simulation in Healthcare 2019;14(6):415–419. PMID 31804426. |
| 3D-printed medical-grade silicone (integrated laryngotracheal model) | Yes | Yes | Cricothyroidotomy Simulator (Gauger) | Airway lumen of the 3D-printed silicone laryngotracheal model, distal to the cricothyroid-membrane access site. Source: Gauger et al. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2018;114:124–128. PMID 30262349. |
| Cardboard tube (toilet-paper roll) | Partial | No | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Aho) | Trachea-and-larynx core beneath the soft-tissue and skin layers; a low-fidelity airway landmark in an ultra-low-cost task trainer. Source: Aho et al. J Surg Educ 2015;72(4):658–661. PMID 25703738. |
| 3D-printed trachea (open-access REAL CRIC STL; print material not specified) | Yes | Partial | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Calvo) | Reusable 3D-printed trachea under a pork-belly skin layer; an air pump feeds air through an ETT so it escapes at the cricothyroid membrane on entry. Rated high-fidelity under ultrasound. Source: Calvo et al. Educación Médica 2021;22:305–310. |
| Thin cardboard tube | Partial | No | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (D'Auria) | Airway wall and lumen; carries the posterior and lateral conductive-foil sensor zones for the automatic scoring overlay. Shares the substrate detailed on the White UW page. Source: D'Auria & Persia, IEEE IRI 2014:514–519. |
| 3D-printed trachea model (open-access STL; PLA or resin) | Yes | No | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Kei) | Reusable rigid anatomical core (UW Airway Collaboration STL) the pork-belly skin overlays; resin lasts 100+ sessions, filament is cheaper but more brittle. Source: Kei et al. J Emerg Med 2019;56(4):426–430. PMID 30685221. |
| Commercial TCCC manikin airway (integrated) | Yes | Partial | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (Muller) | Integrated airway of a Strategic Operations 3-in-1 TCCC manikin, Surgilube-coated to reduce artificial friction; success is a #6 cuffed ETT seated with the cuff fully in the trachea. Source: Muller et al. Mil Med 2020;185(9–10):e1779–e1786. PMID 32567654. |
| Thin cardboard tube (average-adult sized) | Partial | No | Cricothyrotomy Simulator (White UW) | Airway wall sized to an average adult trachea; carries the posterior and lateral conductive-foil sensor zones (the cricoid and lower-ring zones sit on the printed cartilages and the foam ring). Source: D'Auria & Persia, IEEE IRI 2014:514–519, §2 (UW BioRobotics trainer). |
| Beef gelatin with psyllium fibre (cored lumen) | Yes | No | Neonatal ETT Ultrasound Simulator (Qaim Ali) | Upper hollow lumen in a gelatin-psyllium block; on a transverse neck ultrasound the air-filled lumen reads as the trachea and the gelatin as soft tissue. Source: Qaim Ali et al. BMC Med Educ 2020;20:409. PMID 33160342. |
| Plastic tubing | – | – | Chest Tube Insertion Simulator (Brannan) | Plastic-tubing air path from a bag-valve-mask to the balloon "lungs," labelled the trachea in the source. Source: Brannan et al. CJEM 2021;23:547–550. PMID 33783760. |
- Cartilage — the trachea is a specialized cartilage form. The isolated laryngeal (thyroid and cricoid) cartilages and the individual tracheal rings currently sit under Cartilage. Where exactly the boundary falls between Trachea and Cartilage is still open with Dr Mohr.
- Bronchial Tissue — the airway continues past the carina into the bronchi (sibling airway class). Per Dr Mohr (8 July 2026), anything close to laryngotracheal belongs with Trachea, so the cricothyrotomy and tracheostomy airway rows now sit on this page; Bronchial Tissue keeps only the genuinely bronchial models (a labelled bronchial-segment trainer and a printed bronchial tree).
References
[edit source]- ↑ Kovatch KJ, Powell AR, Green K, Reighard CL, Green GE, Gauger VT, Rooney DM, Zopf DA. Development and Multidisciplinary Preliminary Validation of a 3-Dimensional-Printed Pediatric Airway Model for Emergency Airway Front-of-Neck Access Procedures. Anesthesia & Analgesia 2020;130(2):445–451. DOI 10.1213/ANE.0000000000003774. PMID 30234534.
- ↑ Carter JC, Broadbent J, Murphy EC, Guy B, Baguley KE, Young J. A three-dimensional (3D) printed paediatric trachea for airway management training. Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 2020;48(3):243–245. DOI 10.1177/0310057X20925827. PMID 32536185.
- ↑ Kumar R, Kumar R. An Indigenous Suction-assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination Simulation System. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine 2024;28(7):702–705. DOI 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-24760. PMID 38994267. CC BY-NC 4.0.
At a Glance
Overview
[edit source]Synonyms
[edit source]Common names: Trachea, Windpipe
Anatomical terms: Tracheal cartilage, Tracheal rings, Cartilaginous rings, Trachealis muscle, Cricotracheal junction
Regional terms: Tráquea (Spanish), Trachée (French), Trachea (Italian), Luftröhre (German)
| Authors | Arturopelayo |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Cite as | Arturopelayo (2026). "TissueDB/Tissues/Trachea". Appropedia. Retrieved July 15, 2026. |