New 4D technology to aid treatment for lung disease

A novel 4-dimensional lung scanning technology has the potential to transform treatment for millions of people with lung disease around the world.

The platform was developed by professor Andreas Fouras at Monash University in Australia and commercialised by his medical technology company 4Dx.

According to Dr Rajeev Samarge, joint lead author from Monash's Laboratory for Dynamic Imaging, the technology would potentially help millions of people.

"With this technology, not only will clinicians have a clearer image of what is happening in the patient's lungs, but it is our aim to detect changes in lung function much earlier than in the past, which will allow clinicians to quantify the effects of treatment by simply comparing measurements from one scan to the next," said Samarage, PTI reported.

According to Fouras, the 4Dx pre-clinical scanner generated high-resolution images of lung-tissue motion and airflow throughout the lungs, which allowed investigators to view and measure abnormal function in specific areas of the lung, before the spread and progress of the disease.

"Current tools are out of date and require two or three pieces of diagnostic information to piece together what is happening in someone's lungs.

"Our game-changing diagnostic tool offers images of the breathing lungs, making it possible to see what is really important - not what they look like - but  how they work," Fouras said.