Behavior of artificially produced holes in lung parenchyma.

Spherical and cylindrical holes were cut in the parenchyma of isolated dog lung lobes. The holes were insufflated with tantalum dust and the hole diameters were measured along the deflation limb of the lobe pressure-volume curve from transpulmonary pressures of 20 to 0 cmH2O. Hole volume as a fraction of lobe volume was found to be independent of transpulmonary pressure. The hole volume relative to the amount of tissue removed was used to determine the displacement at the hole boundary. A comparison of this displacement with the displacement predicted by a continuum mechanics analysis provides evidence for the applicability of the methods of continuum mechanics and further evidence that the shear modulus of the parenchyma is relatively small.