Physiology Meets Precision: Experimental Imaging Insights to Inform Virtual Lung Trials

Forum Details

Date: Friday, September 19, 2025 12PM Eastern Time

Speakers: Jessica Sieren, PhD from the University of Iowa

Precision imaging technologies are transforming our understanding of lung physiology and disease, offering new opportunities to inform virtual clinical trials. This talk presents two experimental imaging studies that highlight the importance of physiological context and technological optimization in quantitative lung imaging. First, we explore how hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle influence structural and functional lung biomarkers in women, using a multi-modality approach that includes quantitative CT and hyperpolarized gas MRI. These findings underscore the need to account for endogenous physiological variation to improve sensitivity in detecting disease progression and treatment response. Second, we evaluate the impact of ultra-high-resolution photon-counting detector CT (PCD-CT) acquisition modes and reconstruction kernels on quantitative lung metrics using a customized anthropomorphic phantom. Our results demonstrate that ultra-high-resolution PCD-CT can deliver stable, accurate measurements at reduced radiation doses, with kernel selection tailored to specific quantitative tasks. Together, these studies emphasize the critical interplay between physiology and precision imaging, offering insights to enhance the design and interpretation of virtual lung trials.