England [UK], December 25 : A novel way of scanning lungs can demonstrate the impact of treatment on lung function in real-time, allowing experts to observe the functioning of transplanted lungs. This could help doctors detect any deterioration in lung function earlier.
The scan method has enabled the team, led by researchers at Newcastle University, UK, to see how air moves in and out of the lungs as people take a breath in patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and patients who have received a lung transplant.
Publishing two complementary papers in Radiology and JHLT Open, the team explained how they use a special gas, called perfluoro propane, which can be seen on an MRI scanner. The gas can be safely breathed in and out by patients, and then scans are taken to look at where in the lungs the gas has reached.
The project lead, Professor Pete Thelwall is Professor of Magnetic Resonance Physics and Director of the Centre for In Vivo Imaging at Newcastle University. He said; "Our scans show where there is patchy ventilation in patients with lung disease, and show us which parts of the lung improve with treatment. For example, when we scan a patient as they use their asthma medication, we can see how much of their lungs and which parts of their lung are better able to move air in and out with each breath."
Using the new scanning method, the team are able to reveal the parts of the lung that air doesn't reach properly during breathing. By measuring how much of the lung is well-ventilated and how much is poorly ventilated, experts can make an assessment of the effects of a patient's respiratory disease, and they can locate and visualise the lung regions with ventilation defects.
Demonstrating that the scans work in patients with asthma or COPD, the team comprising experts from across Universities and NHS Trusts in Newcastle and Sheffield published the first paper in Radiology.
The new scanning technique allows the team to quantify the degree of improvement in ventilation when patients have a treatment, in this case, a widely used inhaler, the bronchodilator, salbutamol. This shows that the imaging methods could be valuable in clinical trials of new treatments for lung disease.
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