Visualization and quantitative analysis of lung microstructure using micro CT images
Tetsuo Yamamoto, Mitsuru Kubo, Yoshiki Kawata, Noboru Niki, Eisuke Matsui, Hironobu Ohamatsu, Noriyuki Moriyama · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2004
Micro CT system is developed for lung function analysis at a high resolution of the micrometer order (up to 5 μm in spatial resolution). This system reveals the lung distal structures such as interlobular septa, terminal bronchiole, respiratory bronchiole, alveolar duct, and alveolus. In order to visualize lung 3-D microstructures using micro CT images and to analyze them, this research presents a computerized approach. In this approach, the following things are performed: (1) extracting lung distal structures from micro CT images, (2) visualizing extracted lung microstructure in three dimensions, and (3) visualizing inside of lung distal area in three dimensions with fly-through. This approach is applied for to micro CT images of human lung tissue specimens that were obtained by surgical excision and were kept in the state of the inflated fixed lung. And this research succeeded in visualization of lung microstructures using micro CT images to reveal the lung distal structures from bronchiole up to alveolus.