IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS
Assessment of human airway lumen opening is important in diagnosing and understanding the mechanisms of airway dysfunctions such as the excessive airway narrowing in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although there are indirect methods to evaluate the airway calibre, direct in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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World Scientific Publishing
2013-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S1793545813500132 |
| _version_ | 1819056715375575040 |
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| author | LINHONG DENG |
| author_facet | LINHONG DENG |
| author_sort | LINHONG DENG |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Assessment of human airway lumen opening is important in diagnosing and understanding the mechanisms of airway dysfunctions such as the excessive airway narrowing in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although there are indirect methods to evaluate the airway calibre, direct in vivo measurement of the airway calibre has not been commonly available. With recent advent of the flexible fiber optical nasopharyngoscope with video recording it has become possible to directly visualize the passages of upper and lower airways. However, quantitative analysis of the recorded video images has been technically challenging. Here, we describe an automatic image processing and analysis method that allows for batch analysis of the images recorded during the endoscopic procedure, thus facilitates image-based quantification of the airway opening. Video images of the airway lumen of volunteer subject were acquired using a fiber optical nasopharyngoscope, and subsequently processed using Gaussian smoothing filter, threshold segmentation, differentiation, and Canny image edge detection, respectively. Thus the area of the open airway lumen was identified and computed using a predetermined converter of the image scale to true dimension of the imaged object. With this method we measured the opening/narrowing of the glottis during tidal breathing with or without making "Hee" sound or cough. We also used this method to measure the opening/narrowing of the primary bronchus of either healthy or asthmatic subjects in response to histamine and/or albuterol treatment, which also provided an indicator of the airway contractility. Our results demonstrate that the image-based method accurately quantified the area change waveform of either the glottis or the bronchus as observed by using the optical nasopharygoscope. Importantly, the opening/narrowing of the airway lumen generally correlated with the airflow and resistance of the airways, and could differentiate the level of airway contractility between the healthy and asthmatic subjects. Thus, this quantitative assessment of airway opening may provide a useful tool to assist clinical diagnosis of airway dysfunctions and understanding the mechanisms of associated pathophysiologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:27:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6bdbcbbf151d448099dc8eaad95dd475 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1793-5458 1793-7205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:27:49Z |
| publishDate | 2013-04-01 |
| publisher | World Scientific Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-6bdbcbbf151d448099dc8eaad95dd4752022-12-21T19:02:24ZengWorld Scientific PublishingJournal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences1793-54581793-72052013-04-01621350013-11350013-1210.1142/S179354581350013210.1142/S1793545813500132IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTSLINHONG DENG0Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213164, P. R. ChinaAssessment of human airway lumen opening is important in diagnosing and understanding the mechanisms of airway dysfunctions such as the excessive airway narrowing in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although there are indirect methods to evaluate the airway calibre, direct in vivo measurement of the airway calibre has not been commonly available. With recent advent of the flexible fiber optical nasopharyngoscope with video recording it has become possible to directly visualize the passages of upper and lower airways. However, quantitative analysis of the recorded video images has been technically challenging. Here, we describe an automatic image processing and analysis method that allows for batch analysis of the images recorded during the endoscopic procedure, thus facilitates image-based quantification of the airway opening. Video images of the airway lumen of volunteer subject were acquired using a fiber optical nasopharyngoscope, and subsequently processed using Gaussian smoothing filter, threshold segmentation, differentiation, and Canny image edge detection, respectively. Thus the area of the open airway lumen was identified and computed using a predetermined converter of the image scale to true dimension of the imaged object. With this method we measured the opening/narrowing of the glottis during tidal breathing with or without making "Hee" sound or cough. We also used this method to measure the opening/narrowing of the primary bronchus of either healthy or asthmatic subjects in response to histamine and/or albuterol treatment, which also provided an indicator of the airway contractility. Our results demonstrate that the image-based method accurately quantified the area change waveform of either the glottis or the bronchus as observed by using the optical nasopharygoscope. Importantly, the opening/narrowing of the airway lumen generally correlated with the airflow and resistance of the airways, and could differentiate the level of airway contractility between the healthy and asthmatic subjects. Thus, this quantitative assessment of airway opening may provide a useful tool to assist clinical diagnosis of airway dysfunctions and understanding the mechanisms of associated pathophysiologies.http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S1793545813500132Optical nasopharyngoscopyimage processingglottal aperturebronchus openingairway contractilityasthma |
| spellingShingle | LINHONG DENG IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences Optical nasopharyngoscopy image processing glottal aperture bronchus opening airway contractility asthma |
| title | IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS |
| title_full | IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS |
| title_fullStr | IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS |
| title_full_unstemmed | IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS |
| title_short | IMAGE-BASED IN VIVO QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN AIRWAY OPENING AND CONTRACTILITY BY FIBER OPTICAL NASOPHARYNGOSCOPY IN HEALTHY AND ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS |
| title_sort | image based in vivo quantitative assessment of human airway opening and contractility by fiber optical nasopharyngoscopy in healthy and asthmatic subjects |
| topic | Optical nasopharyngoscopy image processing glottal aperture bronchus opening airway contractility asthma |
| url | http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S1793545813500132 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT linhongdeng imagebasedinvivoquantitativeassessmentofhumanairwayopeningandcontractilitybyfiberopticalnasopharyngoscopyinhealthyandasthmaticsubjects |