Pneumothorax Influenced 3D Lung Deformations

In this paper we propose a method to simulate morphological changes caused by both closed and tension pneumothorax. We consider a clinical parameter, the pneumothorax-index (i.e., the degree of lung collapse), as the input to the simulation. Specifically, such an index constitutes a key parameter to the computation of the changes in size and shape of the affected lung. Once the index is obtained, the increase in ventilation rate and the change in the pressure-volume relationship of the affected lung are then computed. For tension pneumothorax, the air continuously flows into the pleural cavity and thus every exhalation is followed by the changes seen for a closed pneumothorax, until the affected lung collapses. The subsequent closure of pulmonary veins and resulting hyper expansion of the apposing lung is also presented. Results show a real-time visualization of closed and tension pneumothorax using a high-resolution 3D model obtained from a normal human subject. © 2006 The authors. All rights reserved