Table 1.
Feasibility | Measurements | Phenotyping | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strengths | Challenges | Strengths | Challenges | ||
MDCT | Excellent general availability, cost- effective, easy to implement | Radiation dose requirements for high resolution scans limits longitudinal series and numbers of scans | Mean lung attenuation in HU (LA) Lung attenuation% (LA%) Airway wall area as % of the total size of the airway (WA%) |
High spatial resolution | Specialized software required for quantification of airway thickening |
HP 3He MRI | Current availability of hardware limited to specialized MR centers; 3He quantities limited globally | Lower spatial resolution than MDCT | Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) Ventilation defect volume cm3 (VDV) Ventilation defect score (VDS) Percent ventilated volume (PVV) Ventilation defect volume % (VDV%) |
Independent measurements of emphysema and airway occlusion, high sensitivity, excellent precision | Specialized software for quantitative phenotypes, expert observer/measurement technicians required |