AIRWAY BYPASS SITE SELECTION AND TREATMENT PLANNING

• US 20100305463A1
• Filed: 08/13/2010
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Broncus Medical Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Broncus Medical Incorporated
• Inventors: WIBOWO, Henky, SALITO, Caterina, ALIVERTI, Andrea, MACKLEM, Peter J., ROSCHAK, Edmund J., COLE, Cary, KEAST, Thomas M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,668,652 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/529
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/2676 Bronchoscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/08 Detecting, measuring or recording devices for evaluating the respiratory organs A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1075 for measuring dimensions by non-invasive methods, e.g. for determining thickness of tissue layer A61B8/0858 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/00 Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis; Apparatus or devices for radiation diagnosis combined with radiation therapy equipment instruments measuring radiation intensity for application in the field of nuclear medicine, e.g. in vivo counting, G01T1/161; apparatus for taking X-ray photographs G03B42/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/481 involving the use of contrast agents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00

Abstract

This invention relates to systems and methods for site selection and placement of extra-anatomic passages altering gaseous flow in a diseased lung.

Claims

1. A method of assessing a plurality of treatment sites in airways of a lung of a patient comprising performing a quantitative analysis of high resolution CT scans wherein said quantitative analysis is based on a change in lung density as a function of lung volume and performed by computer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the quantitative analysis further comprises calculating lung density (D) as lung weight divided by the sum of the volume of gas in the lung (V) and tissue and blood volume.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein D is defined as k/(k+V) where k is a constant.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising determining specific volume (SV) as 1+V/k.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein one or more CT scans are used to determine the relationship between SV and V.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising computing a regional change in specific volume (Δ

SV_r).

7. The method of claim 6 comprising computing an average change in specific volume (Δ

SV_average).

8. The method of claim 7 comprising comparing Δ

SV, to Δ

SV_average.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising identifying regions of emphysematous lung if Δ

SV_r<

<

Δ

SV_average.

10. A method of assessing a plurality of treatment sites in airways of a lung of a patient, the method comprising:

identifying the plurality of sites within the airways of the diseased lung;

determining at least one anatomic characteristic of each site;

automatically calculating on a computer a score for each site based on the degree of the plurality of diseased regions in the lung, at least one anatomic characteristic of each site and a proximity of the site to at least one of the diseased regions; and

displaying each score in association with each site in graphical form.

11. The method of claim 10, where identifying the plurality of sites comprises selecting at least one site per each segmental airway of the bronchi.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprises displaying information regarding at least one anatomic characteristic of the site when displaying the score of the site.

13. The method of claim 10, where determining at least one anatomic characteristic of each site comprises identifying the location of the blood vessels within a distance from the site.

14. The method of claim 10, where calculating the score for each site comprises adjusting the score proportionally to the degree of the diseased region.

15. The method of claim 14, where calculating the score for each site further comprises increasing the score as the proximity of the site to one of the diseased regions decreases.

16. The method of claim 10, where determining at least one anatomic characteristic of each site comprises determining the size of airway diameter of each site.