Quantitative Assessment Of Regional Compliance And Resistance In A Mouse Model Of Emphysema With Micro-Computed Tomography (Micro-Ct)

In vivo micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) of mice and rats has become a valuable research tool in preclinical studies. Alone or in conjunction with a small animal mechanical ventilator, micro-CT can provide quantitative morphologic and functional respiratory data non-destructively and longitudinally. Here, we extend the use of a micro-CT and combined it with simultaneously lung function acquisition, to assess the regional measures of compliance (C) and resistance (R) in healthy control and porcine elastase instilled mice, a well-established model of emphysema. Our findings demonstrate that lung injury induced by elastase treatment comprises heterogeneously distributed morphological and functional changes in lung parenchyma that can be better characterized by regional assessment rather than by a less sensitive single global measure that doesn’t account for local inhomogeneities.