Abstract Lung mechanics are an important determinant of physiological and pathophysiological lung function. Recent light microscopy studies of the intact lung have furthered the understanding of lung mechanics but used methodologies that may have introduced artifacts. To address this concern, we employed a short working distance water immersion objective to capture confocal images of a fluorescently labeled alveolar field on the costal surface of the isolated, perfused rat lung. Surface tension held a saline drop between the objective tip and the lung surface, such that the lung surface was unconstrained. For comparison, we also imaged with O-ring and coverslip; with O-ring, coverslip, and vacuum pressure; and without perfusion. Under each condition, we ventilated the lung and imaged the same region at the endpoints of ventilation. We found use of a coverslip caused a minimal enlargement of the alveolar field; additional use of vacuum pressure caused no further dimensional change; and absence of perfusion did not affect alveolar field dimension. Inflation-induced expansion was unaltered by methodology. In response to inflation, percent expansion was the same as recorded by all four alternative methods. confocal microscopy lung coverslip vacuum pressure perfusion Copyright © 2012 the American Physiological Society « Previous | Next Article » Table of Contents This Article Published online before print November 2011 , doi: 10.​1152/​japplphysiol.​01098.​2011 Journal of Applied Physiology February 2012 vol. 112 no. 3 519-526 » Abstract Free Full Text Free to you Full Text (PDF) Free to you All Versions of this Article: japplphysiol.01098.2011v1 112/3/519 most recent Classifications Innovative Methodology Services Email this article to a friend Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Alert me when eletters are published Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Download to citation manager Responses Submit a response No responses published Citing Articles Load citing article information Citing articles via Web of Science Google Scholar Articles by Wu, Y. Articles by Perlman, C. E. PubMed PubMed citation Articles by Wu, Y. Articles by Perlman, C. E. Related Content Load related web page information Current Issue February 2012, 112 (3) Alert me to new issues of Journal of Applied Physiology About the Journal Information for Authors Submit a Manuscript Ethical Policies AuthorChoice PubMed Central Policy Reprints and Permissions Advertising Press Copyright © 2012 the American Physiological Society Print ISSN: 8750-7587 Online ISSN: 1522-1601 var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-2924550-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview();

/lp/the-american-physiological-society/in-situ-methods-for-assessing-alveolar-mechanics-N0ytoKx2oR