Piotr Alfred Wielopolski1, Pierluigi Ciet2,
Gabriel Paul Krestin1, Martin H. Lequin1, Harm Tiddens3,
Rashindra Manniesing4
1Radiology, Erasmus Medical Center,
Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; 2Department of
Medical-Diagnostic Sciences and Therapies, Policlinico Universitario di
Padova, Padova, Italy; 3Department of Pulmonology, Erasmus Medical
Center, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands; 4Department of
Informatics and Radiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland,
Netherlands
The
purpose of this work was to provide: first, a suitable acquisition scenario
including static and dynamic 3D MRI sequences with sufficient temporal and
spatial resolution to provide good morphological information and
visualization of dynamic events in the central airways and, secondly, to
provide the means for an automatic analysis program suitable to segment the
airway lumen and a dynamic evaluation of cross-sectional areas of the central
airways down to the 2nd generation branching.