Lung flooding enables efficient lung sonography and tumour imaging in human ex vivo and porcine in vivo lung cancer model

Sonography has become the imaging technique of choice for guiding intraoperative interventions in abdominal surgery. Due to artefacts from residual air content, however, videothoracoscopic and open intraoperative ultrasound-guided thermoablation of lung malignancies are impossible. Lung flooding is a new method that allows complete ultrasound imaging of lungs and their tumours.

Fourteen resected tumourous human lung lobes were examined transpleurally with B-mode ultrasound before (in atelectasis) and after lung flooding with isotonic saline solution. In two swine, the left lung was filled with 15 ml/kg isotonic saline solution through the left side of a double-lumen tube. Lung tumours were simulated by transthoracic ultrasound-guided injection of 5 ml of purified bovine serum albumin in glutaraldehyde, centrally into the left lower lung lobe. The rate of tumour detection, the severity of disability caused by residual gas, and sonomorphology of the lungs and tumours were assessed.

The ex vivo tumour detection rate was 100% in flooded human lung lobes and 43% (6/14) in atelectatic lungs. In all cases of atelectasis, sonographic tumour imaging was impaired by residual gas. Tumours and atelectatic tissue were isoechoic. In 28% of flooded lungs, a little residual gas was observed that did not impair sonographic tumour imaging. In contrast to tumours, flooded lung tissue was hyperechoic, homogeneous, and of fine-grained structure. Because of the bronchial wall three-laminar structure, sonographic differentiation of vessels and bronchi was possible. In all cases, malignant tumours in the flooded lung appeared well-demarcated from the lung parenchyma. Adenocarcinoma, squamous, and large cell carcinomas were hypoechoic. Bronchioloalveolar cell carcinoma was slightly hyperechoic. Transpleural sonography identifies endobronchial tumour growth and bronchial wall destruction. With transthoracic sonography, the flooded animal lung can be completely examined in vivo. There is no residual gas, which interferes with ultrasound. Pulmonary vessels and bronchi are clearly differentiated. Simulated lung lesions can easily be detected inside the lung lobe.

Lung flooding enables complete lung sonography and tumour detection. We have developed a novel method that efficiently uses ultrasound for guiding intraoperative interventions in open and endoscopic lung surgery.