Helium allows smoking-damage detection

MILWAUKEE – New technology could help doctors detect lung damage in smokers who seem healthy, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

X-rays and CT scans have long been used to diagnose emphysema. But a new imaging technique that uses magnetized helium allows researchers a more detailed view of the lungs than ever before, which could lead to early detection of diseases related to smoking.

According to the American Lung Association, more than 3 million Americans live with emphysema.

The researchers at UW-Madison conduct- ed the study on a group of 19 people ranging in age from 23 to 73. Eight were non-smokers, and 11 were smokers who had no obvious lung damage. While the subjects were inside the tunnel-like magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, scanner, they were given a small helium-filled bag and asked to take a deep breath through an attached straw. The researchers then took snapshots of the gas when it was in the subjects’ lungs.

“Most MRI scans use protons to image, but this is completely different,” said Thomas Grist, chairman of UW-Madison’s radiology department and a co-author of the study. “The MRI technique that we used measured the diffusion of the gas within the small airways and air sacs.”

Once a person begins to have the shortness of breath that characterizes emphysema, the lungs are already fairly weak, said Eduard de Lange, a professor of radiology at the University of Virginia who specializes in lung MRI. De Lange said helium imaging could someday have the same effect as a cholesterol test that persuades someone to radically change his or her diet.

“Studies have shown when you stop smoking, the decline in lung function will slow down,” said de Lange. “If you stop smoking, it’s not going to improve, but it’s going to be less rapid.”