Landmark papers in respiratory medicine: Automatic quantification of emphysema and airways disease on computed tomography

Computed tomography (CT) of the lungs is able to visualise the lungs with submillimetre resolution and has become the reference standard for emphysema assessment in vivo . CT, a simple densitometer, can aid automatic localisation and quantification of the extent of both emphysema and airway disease, nowadays with a radiation dose of below 1 millisievert for an average 70 kg adult. In this article we will give a brief overview of the three landmark studies describing the quantification of emphysema and small and large ­airways disease on CT. Landmark studies on automatic CT quantification of the pathophysiological factors in obstructive pulmonary diseases <http://ow.ly/YEKhv>