A Non-invasive Method For Assessing Airway Narrowing Of Isolated Airways In Vitro

In this paper a method for measuring the inner and outer diameter of isolated airways in vitro is introduced. This method relies on images to measure outer diameter and on pressure-flow systemic response to measure inner diameter. The hardware/software environment used is introduced and initial experiments are performed as a proof of concept. The authors believe this method can be used to perform experiments in isolated airways that better mimic in-vivo conditions. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.37137140Kapsali, T., Permutt, S., Laube, B., Scichilone, N., Togias, A., Potent bronchoprotective effect of deep inspiration and its absence in asthma (2000) J Appl Physiol, 89, pp. 711-720LaPrad, A.S., Szabo, T.L., Suki, B., Lutchen, K.R., Tidal strechtes do not modulate responsiveness of intact airways in-vitro (2010) J Appl Physiol, , April 29, doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00107.2010Mitchell, H.W., Sparrow, M.P., Video-imaging of lumen narrowingmuscle shortening and flow responsiveness in isolated bronchial segments of the pig (1994) Eur Respir J, 7, pp. 1317-1325Noble, P.B., Turner, D.J., Mitchell, H.W., Relationship of airway narrowing, compliance, and cartilage in isolated bronchial segments (2002) J Appl Physiol, 92, pp. 1119-1124Otsu, N., A threshold selection method from gray-level histograms (1979) IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, 9, pp. 62-66Bates, J.H., (2009) Lung Mechanics - An Inverse Modeling Approach, pp. 62-68. , Cambridge University Pres