Devi S G Karthiga, Mohan Alladi, T C Kalawat, Panchagnula Mahesh V
Department of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, India.
Front Physiol. 2025 Jul 29;16:1611545. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1611545. eCollection 2025.
Current imaging and diagnostic methods are unable to visualize distal lung beyond the seventh branching generation, despite its critical role in lung function. Inter-individual variability in lung structure influences aerosol deposition within the alveolar region. Understanding an individual's lung dimensions enables the development of customized treatments. This constitutes the key motivation behind the study.
This study reports a method to estimate morphometric parameters associated with the distal lung using aerosol deposition characteristics. Aerosol deposition characteristics are measured in a cohort of healthy human subjects using gamma scintigraphy. From this data, differences in the aerosol deposition from subject to subject are quantified. Using a mathematical model of aerosol transport, we demonstrate a novel procedure to estimate patient-specific lung morphometric parameters of the distal generations of the human lung and average alveolar diameter.
Morphometric parameters of the healthy subjects recruited in the study are determined. The lung volumes predicted using the morphometric parameters are unique and different for each subject as expected. The study also predicts the airway diameters and length at every generation for all of the subjects. From the predicted parameters for each of the individual, it can be clearly seen that the lung dimensions vary from individual to individual.
The study demonstrates that measurements of aerosol deposition, especially in the distal generations, are a highly sensitive marker for inter-subject variability in lung morphology. The method presented in this study could be packaged into a walk-in lab test, the results from which could help physicians to personalize treatment and pulmonary drug dosage.
尽管肺部功能的关键部分位于第七级分支之后的远端肺区域，但目前的成像和诊断方法无法对其进行可视化。肺部结构的个体差异会影响气溶胶在肺泡区域的沉积。了解个体的肺部尺寸有助于开发定制化治疗方案。这是本研究的关键动机。
本研究报告了一种利用气溶胶沉积特征来估计与远端肺相关的形态学参数的方法。使用γ闪烁扫描技术在一组健康人体受试者中测量气溶胶沉积特征。根据这些数据，量化受试者之间气溶胶沉积的差异。利用气溶胶传输的数学模型，我们展示了一种新颖的程序，用于估计人类肺部远端各级的患者特异性肺形态学参数和平均肺泡直径。
确定了本研究中招募的健康受试者的形态学参数。正如预期的那样，使用这些形态学参数预测的肺容积对每个受试者来说都是独特且不同的。该研究还预测了所有受试者每一级的气道直径和长度。从每个个体的预测参数可以清楚地看出，肺部尺寸因人而异。
该研究表明，气溶胶沉积测量，尤其是在远端各级的测量，是肺部形态学个体间变异性的高度敏感指标。本研究提出的方法可以打包成一种即时实验室检测，其结果可以帮助医生实现个性化治疗和肺部药物剂量调整。
