Tilo Winkler

Asthma is a chronic disease resulting in periodic attacks of coughing and wheezing due to temporarily constricted and clogged airways. The pathophysiology of asthma and the process of airway narrowing are not completely understood. Appropriate in vivo imaging modality with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to dynamically assess the behavior of airways is missing. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables real-time evaluation of the airways during dynamic and static breathing maneuvers. Our aim was to visualize the structure and function of airways in healthy and Methacholine (MCh) challenged lung. Sheep (n=3) were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated and imaged with OCT in 4 dependent and 4 independent airways both pre- and post-MCh administration. The OCT system employed a 2.4 Fr (0.8 mm diameter) catheter and acquired circumferential cross-sectional images in excess of 100 frames per second during dynamic tidal breathing, 20 second static breath-holds at end-inspiration and expiration pressure, and in a response to a single deep inhalation. Markedly different airway behavior was found in dependent versus non-dependent airway segments before and after MCh injection. OCT is a non-ionizing light-based imaging modality, which may provide valuable insight into the complex dynamic behavior of airway structure and function in the normal and asthmatic lung.