X-Ray Dark-Field Radiography Offers Clues into Lung Disorders

Scientists, for the first time, tested X-ray dark-field radiography on a living organism to diagnose lung disease. This enables highly detailed images of the lung to be generated. This approach has the potential to detect diseases such as pulmonary emphysema at an earlier stage, than it is currently available.

Traditional radiographic procedures generate images based on the absorption of X-rays as they pass through the tissue. The newly developed technique of X-ray dark-field radiography uses new technology to track wave alteration during tissue transmission to generate higher resolution images.

With the help of this new technique, investigators from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen (HMGU; Germany), working in cooperation with the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Hospital (Munich, Germany) and the Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM; Germany), in particular Dr. Ali Onder Yildirim and Prof. Oliver Eickelberg, from the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC; Munich, Germany), which is one of the centers of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), achieved detailed images of soft tissue.

The study was conducted in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence Munich-Center for Advanced Photonics (MAP). The scientists employed a small-animal scanner developed by Prof. Franz Pfeifer at the TUM to assess X-ray dark-field radiography on a living organism. For their investigations, they evaluated and compared images of the lung. “With X-ray dark-field radiography, structural changes in the lung tissue are visible at an early stage,” said Dr. Yildirim from the CPC/HMGU.

“Early detection of changes in the lung tissue will improve the diagnosis of lung diseases,” explained Dr. Felix Meinel, from the Institute of Clinical Radiology at the University Hospital Munich. The clinical application, in particular the diagnosis of lung diseases such as pulmonary emphysema or pulmonary fibrosis, will now be evaluated in further research.

Lung disorders are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Lifestyle, genetics, and environmental factors all play a role in their development. The work of the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, focuses on the most common diseases with the goal of devising new strategies to their diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

The study’s findings were published May 21, 2014, in the Investigative Radiology journal. Earlier findings were published November 13, 2013, in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

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