Visualizing the smallest structures of the human lung remains a major challenge in medical imaging. Computed tomography (CT) is an essential tool for diagnosing and monitoring respiratory diseases, but its ability to resolve the finest anatomical details is limited in part by the need to keep radiation exposure within acceptable levels. Obtaining more detailed images without significantly increasing the radiation dose is therefore a key objective in the development of next-generation imaging technologies.
An international team of researchers has taken an important step towards this goal at the SYRMEP beamline of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste. Using synchrotron-based phase-contrast tomography, the team obtained a high-resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of an entire human lung in a laboratory experiment. Unlike conventional CT, which relies primarily on X-ray absorption, this technique also exploits subtle changes in the phase of X-rays as they pass through tissue, improving the visibility of very fine structures.
To bring the experiment closer to clinical imaging conditions, the researchers developed a specially designed support system that reproduces certain features of the human thorax and maintains the lung in its natural configuration during image acquisition. Combining this system with SYRMEP’s advanced imaging capabilities, they obtained images with an effective voxel size of just 67 micrometres, approximately the thickness of a human hair. The resulting reconstructions reveal small airways, blood vessels and details of tissue organisation that are normally difficult to distinguish using conventional CT. Particularly significant is the fact that the estimated radiation dose remained comparable to that of a standard clinical CT scan.
A comparison with conventional CT images of the same lung reveals substantially finer anatomical detail in the synchrotron-based images. Since the scans were performed under different conditions, the observed improvements reflect both the imaging technique and the preparation of the specimen. Nevertheless, the study demonstrates the potential to investigate very fine pulmonary structures in three dimensions without damaging the tissue, offering new opportunities to understand how tissue alterations are distributed throughout the lung.
This achievement represents an important milestone, although further technological development and validation will be required before the technique can be applied to patients. The research also contributes to the development of the future SYRMEP–Life Science beamline, designed to support advanced lung imaging studies and future clinical investigations.
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