Comparison of MR-Signal-based and Deformation-based Ventilation Measurement in Pediatric Patients with non-CF Bronchiectasis

Motivation: A previous study showed that MR-signal-based (RVent) and deformation-based approaches (JVent) for ventilation are theoretically equivalent, but result in different defects in a digital lung model. A verification of this finding using real data is pending. Goal(s): Test if both ventilation parameters result in significant differences on a global and regional level. Approach: A retrospective analysis of 32 patients with non-CF Bronchiectasis was performed, calculating RVent, JVent and corresponding ventilation defects for three registration variants. Results: There were significant differences and patterns on a global and regional level, which are consistent with the findings in the lung model study. Impact: Inferior-superior gradient in deformation-based ventilation measurements might lead to a biased defect detection. Therefore, use of such parameters might require further correction and/or diligent registration optimization. Thus, signal-based ventilation with more stable performance across different registration variants might be benefical.