Open access bronchoscopy atlas: An online educational tool for pulmonologists

Introduction: Bronchoscopy is a basic procedure for pulmonologists. Familiarization with endoscopic aspects requires visual educational support. Aims: To create a thorough online atlas, including extensive photographic material and educational links. Methods: Gallery ® was used for the online platform. An extensive literature research was conducted to indentify relevant educational resources. Thematic files were created in an exhaustive organizational tree format. After approval of the ethics committee, anonymized photos were collected by the bronchoscopists and the endoscopy department archive. Educational resources were selected by two bronchoscopists from internet research. Quality control was done by the project coordinator and three dedicated site reviewers. Results: Out of more than 2000 bronchoscopies conducted each year in our division and from the electronic archive used since 2012, more than 400 photos were selected. Two bronchoscopists screened approximately 700 articles and websites to choose the educational links. Photographs and links were grouped in the following thematic items: materials/techniques, normal anatomy, anatomical variations, terminology, specific diseases, post-operative bronchoscopy, trauma-foreign bodies-inhalation injuries, pediatric bronchoscopy and quiz. Specific subjects can be retrieved using the 9search function9 and 9popular tags9. Users can leave a comment. Conclusions: The created online bronchoscopy atlas (www.chuv.ch/bronchoscopyatlas) is constantly updated and completed to cover the wide spectrum of techniques and pathologies relevant to bronchoscopy. It is expected to become an invaluable educational tool for pulmonologists.