Visualising ventilation changes following endobronchial valve placement with x-ray velocimetry functional lung...

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Medical Imaging
• Interventional Pulmonology

Background:

• Emphysema treatment often involves lung volume reduction.
• Endobronchial valves (EBVs) offer a minimally invasive approach to reduce airflow to diseased lung segments.
• Accurate assessment of ventilation changes post-EBV placement is crucial for treatment efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the capability of x-ray velocimetry (XV) in detecting lung ventilation changes after EBV placement.
• To demonstrate the potential of XV as a novel imaging modality for emphysema treatment monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A preclinical pilot study using healthy sheep.
• XV imaging was performed before and after bronchoscopic placement of EBVs.
• Computed tomography (CT) scans were used for comparison; sheep were re-imaged after EBV removal.

Main Results:

• XV successfully visualized and quantified reduced airflow to lung areas downstream of EBVs.
• Ventilation changes were detectable by XV even when not apparent on CT scans.
• Alterations in ventilation in the remainder of the lungs were also clearly identified.

Conclusions:

• X-ray velocimetry (XV) is capable of detecting ventilation changes induced by EBV placement.
• This preclinical study supports the potential of XV for clinical application in monitoring emphysema treatments.
• XV may offer a valuable tool for assessing the effectiveness of EBV therapy.