title: Transbronchial needle aspiration: development history, current status and future perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) technology was underutilized by clinicians because it is "blind". Recent development of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) renewed the interest and confident of TBNA. TBNA without EBUS is referred as conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (C-TBNA).
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper focuses on C-TBNA technology development history, present situation and future development to do a detailed introduction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TBNA is a simple, cost effective and minimally invasive technique for diagnosing disease of the mediastinum and lung in adult as well as children patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More improvements of TBNA technology should be made, including employing technological advances to perfect the instruments and techniques, focusing on patient comfort, optimizing yield, simplifying instruments, maximizing ease of use and minimizing training requirements for the pulmonologist. The ideal TBNA scope deserves further evaluation and study.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, People's Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China ; 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China ; 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Huizhen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, People's Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China ; 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China ; 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, People's Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China ; 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China ; 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Ko-Pen
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, People's Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450003, China ; 2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China ; 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: Fujifilm; Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA); Wang needle; endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS); rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE)