Disclosed are systems, devices, and methods for detecting a trachea, an exemplary system comprising an imaging device configured to obtain image data and a computing device configured to generate a three-dimensional (3D) model, identify a potential connected component in a first slice image, identify a potential connected component in a second slice image, label the first slice image as a top slice image, label the connected component in the top slice image as an active object, associate each connected component in a current slice image with a corresponding connected component in a previous slice image based on a connectivity criterion, label each connected component in the current slice image associated with a connected component of the preceding slice image as the active object, and identify the active object as the trachea, based on a length of the active object.
