Assessment of morphometry of pulmonary acini in mouse lungs by nondestructive imaging using multiscale microcomputed tomography

Dragoş M Vasilescu; Zhiyun Gao; Punam K Saha; Leilei Yin; Ge Wang; Beatrice Haefeli-Bleuer; Matthias Ochs; Ewald R Weibel; Eric A Hoffman

doi:10.1073/pnas.1215112109

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Assessment of morphometry of pulmonary acini in mouse lungs by nondestructive imaging using multiscale microcomputed tomography

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Assessment of morphometry of pulmonary acini in mouse lungs by nondestructive imaging using multiscale microcomputed tomography

Dragoş M Vasilescu, Zhiyun Gao, Punam K Saha, Leilei Yin, Ge Wang, Beatrice Haefeli-Bleuer, Matthias Ochs, Ewald R Weibel and Eric A Hoffman

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.109(42), pp.17105-17110

10/16/2012

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215112109

PMCID: PMC3479519

PMID: 23027935

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Abstract

Establishing the 3D architecture and morphometry of the intact pulmonary acinus is an essential step toward a more complete understanding of the relationship of lung structure and function. We combined a special fixation method with a unique volumetric nondestructive imaging technique and image processing tools to separate individual acini in the mouse lung. Interior scans of the parenchyma at a resolution of 2 µm enabled the reconstruction and quantitative study of whole acini by image analysis and stereologic methods, yielding data characterizing the 3D morphometry of the pulmonary acinus. The 3D reconstructions compared well with the architecture of silicon rubber casts of mouse acini. The image-based segmentation of individual acini allowed the computation of acinar volume and surface area, as well as estimation of the number of alveoli per acinus using stereologic methods. The acinar morphometry of male C57BL/6 mice age 12 wk and 91 wk was compared. Significant increases in all parameters as a function of age suggest a continuous change of the lung morphometry, with an increase in alveoli beyond what has been previously viewed as the maturation phase of the animals. Our image analysis methods open up opportunities for defining and quantitatively assessing the acinar structure in healthy and diseased lungs. The methods applied here to mice can be adjusted for the study of similarly prepared human lungs.

Biological Sciences

Details

Title: Subtitle: Assessment of morphometry of pulmonary acini in mouse lungs by nondestructive imaging using multiscale microcomputed tomography
Creators: Dragoş M Vasilescu - Department of Radiology
Zhiyun Gao - Department of Radiology
Punam K Saha - Department of Radiology
Leilei Yin - Beckman Institute
Ge Wang - Biomedical Engineering and Sciences
Beatrice Haefeli-Bleuer - Institute of Anatomy
Matthias Ochs - Institute of Functional and Applied Anatomy
Ewald R Weibel - Institute of Anatomy
Eric A Hoffman - Department of Radiology
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.109(42), pp.17105-17110
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215112109
PMID: 23027935
PMCID: PMC3479519
NLM abbreviation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN: 0027-8424
eISSN: 1091-6490
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Alternative title: 3D morphometry of pulmonary acinus
Language: English
Date published: 10/16/2012
Academic Unit: Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Radiology; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Internal Medicine
Record Identifier: 9984051981902771

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