A radiographic method to estimate lung volume and its use in small mammals.

In this paper we develop a method to estimate lung volume using chest x-rays of small mammals. We applied this method to assess the lung volume of several rodents. We showed that a good estimator of the lung volume is: V*L = 0.496 x VRX approximately equal to 1/2 x VRX, where VRX is a measurement obtained from the x-ray that represents the volume of a rectangular box containing the lungs and mediastinum organs. The proposed formula may be interpreted as the volume of an ellipsoid formed by both lungs joined at their bases. When that relationship was used to estimate lung volume, values similar to those expected from allometric relationship were found in four rodents. In two others, M. musculus and R. norvegicus, lung volume was similar to reported data, although values were lower than expected.