Mechanical ventilation, which currently is the main treatment for several respiratory diseases, is not yet optimized; i.e., it is still causing damage to the ventilated patients’ lungs. Ventilator settings are shown to correlate with the degree of damage. To optimize mechanical ventilation, a distinct knowledge about the behavior of the smallest lung structures, the alveoli, in vivo is required.
This project involves the determination of the mechanical behavior of alveoli by means of an endo-microscopic system that is capable of visually recording the alveolar mechanics in vivo. The resulting videos are evaluated with automated image processing methods to determine the stress-strain relationship of the recorded tissue and specifically the stress-strain relationship of the visible alveolar walls. Preliminary results indicate the potential of the current developed image-processing methods for automatic determination of tissue properties. For the first time, determination of mechanical properties of in vivo in situ lung tissue is within reach.