AUTHOR=Chen Xiao , Zhang Yang , Cao Guoquan , Zhou Jiahuan , Lin Ya , Chen Boyang , Nie Ke , Fu Gangze , Su Min-Ying , Wang Meihao 

TITLE=Dynamic change of COVID-19 lung infection evaluated using co-registration of serial chest CT images

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.915615

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.915615

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>To evaluate the volumetric change of COVID-19 lesions in the lung of patients receiving serial CT imaging for monitoring the evolution of the disease and the response to treatment.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>A total of 48 patients, 28 males and 20 females, who were confirmed to have COVID-19 infection and received chest CT examination, were identified. The age range was 21–93 years old, with a mean of 54 ± 18 years. Of them, 33 patients received the first follow-up (F/U) scan, 29 patients received the second F/U scan, and 11 patients received the third F/U scan. The lesion region of interest (ROI) was manually outlined. A two-step registration method, first using the Affine alignment, followed by the non-rigid Demons algorithm, was developed to match the lung areas on the baseline and F/U images. The baseline lesion ROI was mapped to the F/U images using the obtained geometric transformation matrix, and the radiologist outlined the lesion ROI on F/U CT again.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The median (interquartile range) lesion volume (cm<sup>3</sup>) was 30.9 (83.1) at baseline CT exam, 18.3 (43.9) at first F/U, 7.6 (18.9) at second F/U, and 0.6 (19.1) at third F/U, which showed a significant trend of decrease with time. The two-step registration could significantly decrease the mean squared error (MSE) between baseline and F/U images with <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001. The method could match the lung areas and the large vessels inside the lung. When using the mapped baseline ROIs as references, the second-look ROI drawing showed a significantly increased volume, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05, presumably due to the consideration of all the infected areas at baseline.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The results suggest that the registration method can be applied to assist in the evaluation of longitudinal changes of COVID-19 lesions on chest CT.</p></sec>