{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"medRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T08:51:44Z","timestamp":1782118304124,"version":"3.54.5"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"group-title":"Radiology and Imaging","reference-count":42,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781740800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.medrxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"funder":[{"name":"NIA","award":["U54 AG054345"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U54 AG054345"]}]},{"name":"NIA","award":["R21 AG07857501"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21 AG07857501"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Advancements in medical imaging have enabled non-invasive diagnosis and staging of cystic fibrosis (CF) using CT scans, revealing dilated airways, an increased number of visible airways, and airway generation splits in these patients. However, manual characterization of airways remains time-consuming and challenging due to the numerous structural changes, thereby limiting clinical feasibility. This study aims to develop an automated algorithm to characterize airways from segmented lung CT scans and apply this to a retrospective population. This approach reduces the time required to analyze images and obtain disease-staging results.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>This framework consists of two stages. The first stage extracts and skeletonizes the airway tree from lung CTs, while the second stage measures lung features, including airway volumes, branch counts, generation splits, diameters, and cross-sectional areas. This permits comprehensive characterization for use in clinical assessment.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The airways analysis was performed on 169 CT volumes ranging in age from 6 to 18 years of age, revealing substantial differences in detected airway branches, generation splits, and normalized airway volume between the control and CF groups. The framework also measures airway diameters and cross-sectional areas, revealing an increase in the number of small airways in cystic fibrosis patients, due to early bronchiectasis. These findings align with previous research and demonstrate the framework\u2019s ability to accurately quantify airway changes in patients with CF.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The framework extracts entire airway trees, facilitating measurements of volume, branch count, diameters, and cross-sectional areas, which change with CF severity and\/or treatment. However, partial lung atelectasis can limit the accuracy of airway detection in moderate-to-severe cases.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Funding<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>NIA U54 AG054345 and NIA R21 AG07857501<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.06.09.26355170","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T00:25:49Z","timestamp":1781828749000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Automated Airways Characterization and Assessment of Cystic Fibrosis from CT Imaging"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3111-2294","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Antonio K.","family":"Chong Chie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew L.","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scott A.","family":"Persohn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Charles P.","family":"Burton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Salama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul R.","family":"Territo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis IN 46202 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"issue":"9","key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"763","DOI":"10.2165\/11588870-000000000-00000","article-title":"Cost of illness of cystic fibrosis in Germany: results from a large cystic fibrosis centre","volume":"30","year":"2012","journal-title":"Pharmacoeconomics"},{"key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1569-1993(03)00024-9"},{"key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jval.2012.12.003"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.4103\/bbrj.bbrj_81_17","article-title":"Geographical distribution of cystic fibrosis; The past 70 years of data analyzis","volume":"1","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Journal (BBRJ)"},{"key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pcl.2016.04.001"},{"key":"2026062201300888000_2026.06.09.26355170v1.6","unstructured":"Schraufnagel DE. 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