Evaluation of 3D Magnetic Resonance Spirometry: Comparison with Spirometry in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Respiratory Pathologies (asthma, COPD, Bilateral Lung Transplant)

Spirometry is now the gold standard technique for assessing lung function in humans. From the shape of a flow-volume curve measured while the patient, trained by the practitioner, performs forced breaths, the forced vital capacity (FVC) and the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) can be deduced and the pulmonologist is able to detect and characterize respiratory diseases as well as to evaluate current treatments. This technique is non-invasive and simple. It is widely available, robust, reproducible and sensitive to intervention. However, it requires proactive cooperation from the patient and only measures global pulmonary ventilation, without locoregional information. An innovative strategy and an original study framework have been developed in the BioMaps laboratory to establish local maps of flow-volume curves across the lung and to jointly analyze ventilatory function and mechanical behavior at any point in the lung: 3D magnetic resonance spirometry. As respiratory mechanics fundamentally supports ventilatory function, this technique should open a new avenue to non-invasively explore lung function while providing a better diagnosis of regional lung diseases.