Quantification of airway diameters and 3D airway tree rendering from dynamic hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging

Magn Reson Med. 2005 Feb;53(2):474-8. doi: 10.1002/mrm.20349.

Abstract

As another step toward extracting quantitative information from hyperpolarized 3He MRI, airway diameters in humans were measured from projection images and multislice images of the lungs. Values obtained were in good agreement with the Weibel lung morphometry model. The measurement of airway caliber can now be achieved without the use of ionizing radiation. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that 3D airway tree renderings could be constructed from the multislice data. Both the measurement of airway diameters and the rendering of 3D airway information hold promise for the clinical assessment of bronchoconstrictive diseases such as asthma and the associated evaluation of treatment effectiveness. Work is being done to address the uncertainties of the manually intensive methods we have developed.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Inhalation
  • Aerosols / administration & dosage
  • Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / methods*
  • Bronchi / anatomy & histology*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Contrast Media
  • Helium* / administration & dosage
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Aerosols
  • Contrast Media
  • Helium