# Cystic Lung Phantom to Validate Clinical CT Protocols

## TL;DR

A new lung phantom with air-filled cavities was developed to improve the accuracy of CT scans in measuring lung cysts.

## Contribution

The study introduces a replicable lung phantom with varying cyst sizes to validate clinical CT protocols for cystic lung diseases.

## Key findings

- The phantom's lung compartments correctly simulated cystic lesions recognized by lung analysis software.
- Small cysts were significantly underestimated in volume measurements, with error increasing as cyst size decreased.

## Abstract

In computed tomography (CT)-based evaluation of the extent of cystic changes in the lungs of patients with cystic lung diseases, such as Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), there is a lack of a lung phantom containing air-filled cavities that mimic pulmonary cysts to calibrate the measurement of cystic volumes from CT scans. We describe an easy-to-replicate cystic lung phantom consisting of basic lung structures of a trachea and two lung compartments. The lung compartments contain air cavities of varying sizes to mimic cystic lesions. The lung compartments are made of a foam material recommended by NIST to simulate the radiodensity of human lung parenchyma. In tests performed on a clinical scanner, various structures in the lung phantom were correctly recognized by two types of lung analysis software. The resulting cystic volume measurements revealed the relationship between the size of the cysts and the accuracy of the measurement. The significant finding was that the volumes of individual cysts were underestimated for small cysts. The error increased with decreasing cyst sizes. Such underestimation has not been mentioned previously and deserves the attention of clinicians using CT scans to assess the cyst burden in the lungs, particularly in patients presenting with numerous small pulmonary cysts.