Diffraction enhanced imaging of a rat model of gastric acid aspiration pneumonitis.

Rationale And Objectives: Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is a type of phase contrast x-ray imaging that has improved image contrast at a lower dose than conventional radiography for many imaging applications, but no studies have been done to determine if DEI might be useful for diagnosing lung injury. The goals of this study were to determine if DEI could differentiate between healthy and injured lungs for a rat model of gastric aspiration and to compare diffraction-enhanced images with chest radiographs.

Materials And Methods: Radiographs and diffraction-enhanced chest images of adult Sprague Dawley rats were obtained before and 4 hours after the aspiration of 0.