Pulmonary ventilation imaging and function studies with krypton-81m

Chronic obstructive lung disease is a significant entity throughout the world. It is etiologically related to smoking, air pollution and mining. To arrest asymptomatic disease, early diagnosis is required, implying an efficacious, reliable and available methodology, which has the potential for screening suspect populations. Krypton-81m is a 13-second radionuclide that emits a 190 keV gamma ray; it may be produced from a rubidium-81-krypton-81m generator and delivery system, devised, produced and evaluated by the authors. The generator effluent, in gaseous form, may be continually inhaled by a subject while static equilibrium images and dynamic studies of ventilation are produced with a gamma scintillation camera system. The wash-in of /sup 81m/Kr produces heterogeneous images, the activity being proportional to regional ventilation due to rapid decay. Minimal ventilatory delays are detectable. Normal subjects and patients with obstructive lung disease have been evaluated by static equilibrium and dynamic studies. The sensitivity of /sup 81m/Kr studies is currently being compared with various other pulmonary function tests, to evaluate its potential as an appropriate screening technique