Volumetric Imaging of Lung Tissue at Micrometer Resolution: Clinical Applications of Micro-CT for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Diseases

Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a promising novel medical imaging modality that allows for non-destructive volumetric imaging of surgical tissue specimens at high spatial resolution. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the clinical applications of micro-CT for t...

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Autores principales: Andreana Bompoti, Andreas S. Papazoglou, Dimitrios V. Moysidis, Nikolaos Otountzidis, Efstratios Karagiannidis, Nikolaos Stalikas, Eleftherios Panteris, Vijayakumar Ganesh, Thomas Sanctuary, Christos Arvanitidis, Georgios Sianos, James S. Michaelson, Markus D. Herrmann
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/dc70c3ab7d704dcca2bc8bb5f7f855ce
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Sumario:Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is a promising novel medical imaging modality that allows for non-destructive volumetric imaging of surgical tissue specimens at high spatial resolution. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the clinical applications of micro-CT for the tissue-based diagnosis of lung diseases. This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews, aiming to include every clinical study reporting on micro-CT imaging of human lung tissues. A literature search yielded 570 candidate articles, out of which 37 were finally included in the review. Of the selected studies, 9 studies explored via micro-CT imaging the morphology and anatomy of normal human lung tissue; 21 studies investigated microanatomic pulmonary alterations due to obstructive or restrictive lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and cystic fibrosis; and 7 studies examined the utility of micro-CT imaging in assessing lung cancer lesions (<i>n</i> = 4) or in transplantation-related pulmonary alterations (<i>n</i> = 3). The selected studies reported that micro-CT could successfully detect several lung diseases providing three-dimensional images of greater detail and resolution than routine optical slide microscopy, and could additionally provide valuable volumetric insight in both restrictive and obstructive lung diseases. In conclusion, micro-CT-based volumetric measurements and qualitative evaluations of pulmonary tissue structures can be utilized for the clinical management of a variety of lung diseases. With micro-CT devices becoming more accessible, the technology has the potential to establish itself as a core diagnostic imaging modality in pathology and to enable integrated histopathologic and radiologic assessment of lung cancer and other lung diseases.