Chinese expert consensus on the standardized procedure and technique of transbronchial cryobiopsy

Transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB) is a technique to obtain frozen samples of lung tissue from the distal bronchioles, in which the tissue surrounding the tip of a cryoprobe inserted through the bronchoscope is frozen with a rapid freezing process and abruptly pulled away from adherent tissue. The advantages of TBCB are improved diagnostic yield, reduced trauma, large and high-quality specimens, potentially decreased complications, and lower cost in comparison to surgical lung biopsy (SLB).