Airway geometry by analysis of acoustic pulse response measurements.

Serial distribution of airway properties determines in part the response of the lung to high frequency oscillations. We measured the response of excised dog lungs and lobes between 156 and 10,000 Hz and determined the area-distance function of the acoustically equivalent structure having rigid walls, regular branching, and negligible internal losses. The utility of this techique was tested by determining the effects of air trapping, removal of pleura from a dried lung, central airway smooth muscle tone. A strong correlation was found between relative changes in equivalent acoustic area and relative area changes measured radiographically in individual airways at corresponding distances. We conclude that despite departures of the properties of the real lung from the characteristics of the acoustically equivalent structure, changes in the area-distance function computed by this technique provide reasonable estimates of the magnitude and serial distribution of actual changes in airway cross-sectional area.