Structure and function of the healthy and diseased lung
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The ability of the lungs to perform gas exchange is vital to sustaining eveyday life, however lung diseases hamper the lungs capacity for gas exchange. Many factors can lead lung damage and disease such as exposure to mechanical ventilation in the preterm infant or in the adult after exposure to pollutants such as cigarette smoke.
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Imaging lung aeration: A tool for disease detection
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| Adult lung diseases such as emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis manifest as microscopic changes within the lung tissue well before the development of clinical signs or symptoms. Beth is studying the application of phase contrast X-ray imaging, which allows visualisation of very small airways in the gas exchange region of the lung, for detection of pre-clinical lung disease. |
Mechanical ventilation induced-lung injury
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| Preterm infants are born with immature lungs and a decreased ability to initiate and maintain gas exchange independantly at birth, so mechanical ventilation of preterms is used to support their breathing. Unfortunately, the immaturity of their lungs makes them vulnerable to injury. Beth's experiments aim to characterise changes in the preterm lungs (both structurally and haemodynamically) caused by mechanical ventilation and to develop ventilation stratergies which minimise damage. |
