Researchers have confirmed that a non-invasive imaging method called parametric response mapping can detect small airway damage in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, on a chest CT scan. These tiny areas of the lung, known as bronchioles, are typically too small to be seen on CT scans and are not well captured by pulmonary function tests. The method could be used in a clinical trial setting to monitor the efficacy of new COPD treatments in real time, researchers say.
Researchers applied three-dimensional x-ray imaging to measure the amount of small airway damage in lung tissue removed from healthy people and patients with COPD who were undergoing a lung transplant. Researchers then mapped the measurements back to the CT scans from patients before they had surgery. Researchers confirmed that parametric response mapping could identify bronchioles that have lost their shape and have become narrow and obstructed.
The study, funded by NHLBI, appeared in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a journal of the American Thoracic Society.