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DEVELOPMENT OF 3-D COMPUTER MODELS OF HUMAN LUNG MORPHOLOGY FOR IMPROOVED RISK ASSESSMENT OF INHALED PARTICULATE MATTER
Citation:
Schroeter, J. D., T B. Martonen, D. Hwang, AND J. S. Fleming. DEVELOPMENT OF 3-D COMPUTER MODELS OF HUMAN LUNG MORPHOLOGY FOR IMPROOVED RISK ASSESSMENT OF INHALED PARTICULATE MATTER. Presented at SOT, San Francisco, CA, March 25-29,2001.
Description:
DEVELOPMENT OF 3-D COMPUTER MODELS OF HUMAN LUNG MORPHOLOGY FOR IMPROVED RISK ASSESSMENT OF INHALED PARTICULATE MATTER
Jeffry D. Schroeter, Curriculum in Toxicology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Ted B. Martonen, ETD, NHEERL, USEPA, RTP, NC 27711; Dongming Hwang, IBM, RTP, NC 27709; John S. Fleming, Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, U. K.
Sponsor: Linda Birnbaum, ETD, NHEERL, USEPA, RTP, NC 27711
Lung morphology is a vital component of models used to predict sites of deposition of inhaled particles in the human respiratory system. A pitfall of conventional dosimetry models that rely on simplified morphologies of the lung is that airways are predicted to exist where none are found in vivo. A computer model has been developed to describe the bifurcating array of lung airways in a more realistic manner to improve the risk assessment of inhaled PM. To ensure an anatomically accurate representation of the airway network, the model is designed to conform to the actual shape of the lung, as determined by examination of scintigraphy data. An idealized boundary is defined to simulate lung parenchyma contours and to divide the lung into its separate left and right components. A recursive algorithm is then used to develop the 3-D airway network inside the enclosed boundaries. An important construct of the model is that it is designed to be compatible with the analysis of images obtained from measurements of aerosol deposition in the lung using SPECT. The computer-generated images, when superimposed on images from SPECT, can serve as templates to assist in the interpretation of human data. The model is designed in such a way that airways can be tabulated in a manner that is consistent with laboratory protocols from the medical arena. This has applications in the field of inhalation toxicology, where the analysis of deposition patterns coupled with knowledge of actual airway locations within lungs can be used to quantify the localized dosage of inhaled pollutants. Disclaimer: This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy. Acknowledgments: JDS was funded by the EPA/UNC Toxicology Research Program, Training Agreement CT902908, with the Curriculum in Toxicology, UNC-CH.