title: Ultrasound Strain Measurements for Evaluating Local Pulmonary Ventilation.
abstract: Local lung function is difficult to evaluate, because most lung function estimates are either global in nature, e.g. pulmonary function tests, or require equipment that cannot be used at a patient's bedside, such as computed tomograms. Yet, local function measurements would be highly desirable for many reasons. In a recent publication [1], we were able to track displacements of the lung surface during breathing. We have now extended these results to measuring lung strains during respiration as a means of assessing local lung ventilation. We studied two normal human volunteers and 12 mice with either normal lung function or experimentally induced pulmonary fibrosis. The difference in strains between the control, normal mice and those with pulmonary fibrosis was significant (p < 0.02), while the strains measured in the human volunteers closely matched linear strains predicted from the literature. Ultrasonography may be able to assess local lung ventilation.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Sisson
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Epsilon Imaging Inc. Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hamilton
keywords: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); lung ultrasound; lung ventilation; lung ventilator monitoring; pulmonary fibrosis; ultrasound strain measurement