Analysis of equine scintigraphical lung images.

This research reports on a method developed to examine scintigraphic images of horse lungs, involving the creation of inhalation to perfusion ratio (I/Q) images and analysis of these images. Results were consolidated from five healthy horses to establish a baseline of I/Q distribution pattern.

Method

The method proposed in the study involves two main components:

• Creation of inhalation to perfusion ratio (I/Q) images from equine lung scintiscans: This step utilizes scintigraphy, a diagnostic technique in nuclear medicine, where a radioactive tracer is injected and images are captured using a special camera that detects the radiation.
• Analysis of these I/Q images: This involves studying the distribution of inhaled elements versus the circulation in the lungs using computer algorithms to detect irregularities or abnormalities.

Application and Results

After developing the method, the researchers then applied it to five healthy horses to establish reference ranges of the I/Q distribution pattern.

In the analysis:

• The computed I/Q images were separated into three regions depending on the activity due to the inhalation process versus perfusion (circulation through the lung tissue).
• For each region, two key variables were calculated: a regional mismatching factor (Iri), which is the I/Q of the area, and an intraregional mismatching factor (Lri), which shows the variation of pixel’s I/Q within the region.
• The researchers also computed the Per(Ri) and Cen(Ri), which portray the percentage of pixels in the tissue and central parts of the lung pertaining to the region.

Upon analysis, the results showed a good match between inhalation and perfusion distribution patterns in the lungs of these healthy horses. This potentially sets a reference to identify and study lung pathology in horses, based on the differences observed in their scintigraphic images compared to the established normal pattern.