Depiction of minute structures of the lung parenchyma using new super fine resolution CT

The secondary pulmonary lobule is a structural unit that is composed of pulmonary parenchyma measuring 1 cm or less in size and has been the basis for the morphological evaluation of many pulmonary diseases. However, it is difficult to clearly visualize the structures in the conventional CT scanner. The objective of this study is to depict the pulmonary lobular structures using a new super fine resolution CT with a high contrast resolution of 0.25 mm. In the volunteer study, small pulmonary veins, centrilobular pulmonary arterioles and some bronchioles were depicted. In the fixed lung specimen study, bronchioles were depicted. With regard to bronchi peripheral, a larger number of bronchi could be depicted compared with the non-amended MSCT scanner. These technological advances permit pulmonary diseases to be accurately diagnosed based on the evaluation of the lobular structure. (author)