[Methodological study of hemodynamic analysis of lung mass by contrast enhanced dynamic CT]

We investigated a method of analyzing the hemodynamics of the lung mass by contrast enhanced dynamic computed tomography (dynamic CT) to determine the difference in vascular supply between the pulmonary artery and bronchial artery using an experimental model. Our experimental model consisted of two injectors connected to two tubes, representing the pulmonary artery and bronchial artery, which were further connected to a chamber representing the lung mass. Following infusion of contrast medium into each tube with some delay time, dynamic CT scans were performed to obtain time density curves of the two tubes and the chamber. Using the time-density curve of contrast passage, flow rates from the two tubes into the chamber were calculated by the curve fitting method. Calculated values correlated well with the adopted flow rates of fluid from the injectors (r = 0.893) in the experiment. The results indicate our method of individually measuring flow rates of dual-input blood flow, i.e., from the pulmonary artery and bronchial artery, into the lung mass is applicable clinically to determine blood flow by the two arteries supplying the lung mass.