Assessment of multislice CT to quantify pulmonary emphysema function and physiology in a rat model

Minsong Cao; Keith M. Stantz; Yun Liang; Ganapathy Krishnamurthi; Robert G. Presson Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.595775

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14 April 2005 Assessment of multislice CT to quantify pulmonary emphysema function and physiology in a rat model

Minsong Cao, Keith M. Stantz, Yun Liang, Ganapathy Krishnamurthi, Robert G. Presson Jr.

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Proceedings Volume 5746, Medical Imaging 2005: Physiology, Function, and Structure from Medical Images; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.595775
Event: Medical Imaging, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate multi-slice computed tomography technology to quantify functional and physiologic changes in rats with pulmonary emphysema. Method: Seven rats were scanned using a 16-slice CT (Philips MX8000 IDT) before and after artificial inducement of emphysema. Functional parameters i.e. lung volumes were measured by non-contrast spiral scan during forced breath-hold at inspiration and expiration followed by image segmentation based on attenuation threshold. Dynamic CT imaging was performed immediately following the contrast injection to estimate physiology changes. Pulmonary perfusion, fractional blood volume, and mean transit times (MTTs) were estimated by fitting the time-density curves of contrast material using a compartmental model. Results: The preliminary results indicated that the lung volumes of emphysema rats increased by 3.52±1.70mL (p<0.002) at expiration and 4.77±3.34mL (p<0.03) at inspiration. The mean lung densities of emphysema rats decreased by 91.76±68.11HU (p<0.01) at expiration and low attenuation areas increased by 5.21±3.88% (p<0.04) at inspiration compared with normal rats. The perfusion for normal and emphysema rats were 0.25±0.04ml/s/ml and 0.32±0.09ml/s/ml respectively. The fractional blood volumes for normal and emphysema rats were 0.21±0.04 and 0.15±0.02. There was a trend toward faster MTTs for emphysema rats (0.42±0.08s) than normal rats (0.89±0.19s) with p<0.006, suggesting that blood flow crossing the capillaries increases as the capillary volume decreases and which may cause the red blood cells to leave the capillaries incompletely saturated with oxygen if the MTTs become too short. Conclusion: Quantitative measurement using CT of structural and functional changes in pulmonary emphysema appears promising for small animals.

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Minsong Cao, Keith M. Stantz, Yun Liang, Ganapathy Krishnamurthi, and Robert G. Presson Jr. "Assessment of multislice CT to quantify pulmonary emphysema function and physiology in a rat model", Proc. SPIE 5746, Medical Imaging 2005: Physiology, Function, and Structure from Medical Images, (14 April 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.595775

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