Innovative Ultrasonic Methods for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Pulmonary Fibrosis
Abstract
Pulmonary fibrosis: The lungs are filled with millions of small air pockets called alveoli. Pulmonary fibrosis is the growth of scar tissue in the lungs. This will cause the tissue between the alveoli to thicken, preventing the alveoli to fill with air properly and subsequently impairing breathing and the oxygen intake. Veterans suffer from pulmonary fibrosis more than the general population because they are more exposed to chemical inhalations, burn pits, and dust storms. Some treatments are available to manage the symptoms and slow down the accumulation of scarring tissue in the lungs. To maximize the efficacy of these treatments, pulmonary fibrosis must be diagnosed as early as possible. Furthermore, during the course of treatment, it is important to be able to monitor the evolution of pulmonary fibrosis by doing repeated exams in order to assess how well the treatment is working. Pulmonary fibrosis is one of the Fiscal Year 17 Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program Topic Areas. Current Methods for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Fibrosis: Currently, pulmonary fibrosis is assessed using chest X-rays, computed tomography (CT) scans, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Chest X-rays and MRI provide images with a poor resolution, which makes it difficult to quantify the amount of scarring tissue in the lungs. CT scans provide image with a much better resolution, but are associated with a higher dose of X-rays, which, if the exams are repeated frequently, can cause the development of cancer. Additionally, X-rays, CT scans, and MRI are costly and not widely available in primary patient facilities. Objective: Developing a method for the early diagnosis and monitoring of pulmonary fibrosis that could be radiation-free, low-cost, and widely available is therefore extremely relevant. Ultrasound is a safe and low-cost modality that would meet those requirements. However, ultrasound does not propagate well in air, and the ultrasound waves transmitted in the lung are bounced around, scattered in all directions by the alveoli. This is the reason why ultrasound is not currently used to image the lung. This project proposes to develop a method to quantify pulmonary fibrosis using ultrasound. Innovation and Rationale: It is highly innovative because it exploits the weakness of ultrasound for lung imaging: the bouncing around of the ultrasound waves when they encounter air-filled alveoli. The proposed method relies on measuring how often ultrasound waves are scattered by the alveoli. If the lung is healthy, the millions of reflections will occur. In the presence of pulmonary fibrosis, the air-filled alveoli will be further apart from each other and the ultrasound waves will propagate better. By measuring how long the waves can propagate without being scattered, it will be possible to quantify the amount of fibrotic tissue. Impact: The goal of this study is to demonstrate that the distance an ultrasound wave can propagate without being reflected is a marker of pulmonary fibrosis. The proposed study will be performed in rats in which pulmonary fibrosis will be induced. Ultimately, the results obtained here will be used to develop a technique relying on the same principle, which will be used in humans. This will help the early diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis, which will enable an earlier administration of treatments. Because it can be performed frequently with no secondary effects, this technique will enable serial monitoring of pulmonary fibrosis, for a better evaluation of the efficacy of treatments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1810101
Entities
People
- M. Müller
Organizations
- North Carolina State University
- United States Army