Dynamic ventilation imaging from four-dimensional computed tomography

Thomas Guerrero, Kevin Sanders, Edward Castillo, Yin Zhang, Luc Bidaut, Tinsu Pan, Ritsuko Komaki

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    205 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A novel method for dynamic ventilation imaging of the full respiratory cycle from four-dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) acquired without added contrast is presented. Three cases with 4D CT images obtained with respiratory gated acquisition for radiotherapy treatment planning were selected. Each of the 4D CT data sets was acquired during resting tidal breathing. A deformable image registration algorithm mapped each (voxel) corresponding tissue element across the 4D CT data set. From local average CT values, the change in fraction of air per voxel (i.e. local ventilation) was calculated. A 4D ventilation image set was calculated using pairs formed with the maximum expiration image volume, first the exhalation then the inhalation phases representing a complete breath cycle. A preliminary validation using manually determined lung volumes was performed. The calculated total ventilation was compared to the change in contoured lung volumes between the CT pairs (measured volume). A linear regression resulted in a slope of 1.01 and a correlation coefficient of 0.984 for the ventilation images. The spatial distribution of ventilation was found to be case specific and a 30% difference in mass-specific ventilation between the lower and upper lung halves was found. These images may be useful in radiotherapy planning.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)777-791
    Number of pages15
    JournalPhysics in Medicine and Biology
    Volume51
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Feb 2006

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Dynamic ventilation imaging from four-dimensional computed tomography'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this