Lung Volume Calculation in Preclinical MicroCT: A Fast Geometrical Approach

In this study, we present a time-efficient protocol for thoracic volume calculation as a proxy for total lung volume. We hypothesize that lung volume can be calculated indirectly from this thoracic volume. We compared the measured thoracic volume with manually segmented and automatically thresholded lung volumes, with manual segmentation as the gold standard. A linear regression formula was obtained and used for calculating the theoretical lung volume. This volume was compared with the gold standard volumes. In healthy animals, thoracic volume was 887.45 mm(3), manually delineated lung volume 554.33 mm(3) and thresholded aerated lung volume 495.38 mm(3) on average. Theoretical lung volume was 554.30 mm(3). Finally, the protocol was applied to three animal models of lung pathology (lung metastasis and transgenic primary lung tumor and fungal infection). In confirmed pathologic animals, thoracic volumes were: 893.20 mm(3), 860.12 and 1027.28 mm(3). Manually delineated volumes were 640.58, 503.91 and 882.42 mm(3), respectively. Thresholded lung volumes were 315.92 mm(3), 408.72 and 236 mm(3), respectively. Theoretical lung volume resulted in 635.28, 524.30 and 863.10.42 mm(3). No significant differences were observed between volumes. This confirmed the potential use of this protocol for lung volume calculation in pathologic models.