Adam J Hajari1,2, Alex L Sukstanskii2,
Dmitriy a Yablonskiy1,2, Richard a Pierce3, Gaetan
Deslee4, Jason C Woods1,2
1Physics, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO, United States; 2Radiology, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO, United States; 3Internal Medicine, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO, United States; 4Service de Pneumologie,
INSERM U903, Reims, France
In this study we have measured alveolar and acinar duct sizes at physiologically relevant volumes in six normal excised canine lungs using a 3He lung morphometry technique optimized for measurements of canine sized airways. Our results imply that during a significant decrease in lung volume (from TLC to 63% of TLC), the acinar duct radius decreases by 17% while the alveolar depth increases by 9%. The 3He morphometry results are in good agreement with histology measurements of the same parameters from the same lungs.
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