Functional characteristics assessment of respiratory system in COVID-19 survivors using Quantitative Computed Tomography

Quantitative CT analysis is one area in the rapidly growing field of radiomics, the practice of extracting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative data from medical images to aid in disease diagnosis and prognosis. The majority of quantitative tools are based on volumetric datasets. There is a wide range of information that can be extracted from the data in different ways. However, one of the most important aspects of quantitative CT analysis is the ability to generate accurate 3D models that can be used to make accurate and precise measurements of the various structures of interest.Objective(s) of the study: To assess the functional characteristics of the respiratory system of COVID-19 survivors using Quantitative Computed Tomography.

Materials and method: Patients who have been advised for HRCT will be recruited for the study. After screening of patient through all the inclusive and exclusive criteria, informed consent will be obtained. The participant is inquired about any history of COVID-19 and a written consent is obtained, which explains the scan that is to be done for the respective patient. A non-enhanced HRCT chest CT scan will be performed for the study. The source data will be reconstructed and performed with a slice thickness of 1.00mm and with an increment of 0.500mm with a preset window in the lung as well as in the mediastinal, with a matrix size of 512x512. Later the data will be launched in the COPD application in the Philips IntelliSpace space software, version 10.1. The images are then opened in the multiple modules in the COPD software to render multiple measurements of each lobe of the lungs. The 3D images of the lungs and the airways are created in the verified citation module and each airway, lobe, and lung can be isolated as per choice. The lung density modules enable to measurement of the density of the lungs in Hounsfield units and the threshold can be altered as needed for assessment. Measuring Volumetric measurements of the lungs which are tabulated under different titles of emphysema volume threshold, total volume, and emphysema ratio threshold. These aforementioned titles will also be available in percentiles as well. Airway extraction module aids in assessing the 3D rendered volume of the airways ie., the trachea, bronchus, and bronchioles.