Alexander L. Sukstanskii1, James D. Quirk1,
Jason C. Woods1,2, David S. Gierada1, Barbara A. Lutey3,
Mark S. Conradi2, Dmitriy A. Yablonskiy1,2
1Radiology, Washington University, St.
Louis, Misssouri, United States; 2Physics, Washington University, St.
Louis, MO, United States; 3Internal Medicine, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO, United States
The
apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of hyperpolarized 3He gas in lungs
increases in emphysema and can serve as a biomarker of the disease
progression. It is not clear, however, how ADC relates to lung
microstructure. In the present communication, using 3He-based in vivo lung
morphometry technique, we demonstrate that ADC and a standard histological
parameter mean chord length (Lm) reflect lung microstructure parameters in
different ways. As a result, a there is no unique relationship between ADC
and Lm. At the same time, 3He-based lung morphometry allows quantification of
the lung microstructure in terms of Lm, surface-to-volume ratio and other
standard histological parameters.