Current Affairs: Scientists have successfully produced 3D images showing oxygen and carbon dioxide transport in the lungs.
Every time we breathe, oxygen and carbon dioxide is transferred between our blood and the air in the lungs.
It is crucial for us to maintain life that this gas transport functions, and detailed knowledge about the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide is therefore also important.
Not least in the case of patients with pulmonary lung diseases such as COPD, lung cancer and asthma, and also for acutely ill patients who are on a respirator.
For these patients, the latest research in the area may turn out to be the first step on the road to more effective forms of treatment.
Scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark used a new method that could lead to better treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.
Researchers developed a mathematical model that provides the basis for the 3D images, which in turn are developed from positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
The new model can be used for different groups of patients. The new model is not only able to make it easier for doctors to foresee the consequences of high-risk lung operations. It will also contribute new basic knowledge about the crucial oxygen and carbon dioxide transfer in both healthy and diseased lungs.
