Pulmonary blood flow evaluation using a dynamic flat-panel detector: feasibility study with pulmonary diseases.

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Pulmonary Medicine

Background:

• Pulmonary ventilation and circulation dynamics are observable via X-ray translucency changes on fluoroscopic images.
• Functional imaging offers insights into lung perfusion and blood flow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of non-contrast functional imaging using a dynamic flat-panel detector (FPD).
• To evaluate dynamic chest radiography for visualizing pulmonary blood flow distribution.

Main Methods:

• Dynamic chest radiographs were acquired from 20 subjects (12 abnormal, 8 normal) using an FPD system.
• Image analysis involved defining focal pixel values, lung area, and eliminating hilar regions.
• Changes in pixel values over one cardiac cycle were calculated and mapped to visualize pulmonary blood flow distribution, compared with lung perfusion scintigraphy.

Main Results:

• Normal subjects exhibited a symmetric decrease in pixel value changes from the lung hilum to the periphery.
• Abnormal cases showed reduced pixel value changes on mapping images, indicating pulmonary blood flow disorders.
• The mapping images demonstrated strong concordance with lung perfusion scintigraphy findings.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic chest radiography with FPD and computer analysis represents a novel functional imaging technique.
• This method can provide additional information on pulmonary blood flow distribution.
• It holds promise for diagnosing pulmonary blood flow abnormalities non-invasively.