Some pulmonary diseases and injuries are believed to correlate with lung viscoelasticity changes. Hence, a better understanding of lung viscoelastic models could provide new perspectives on the progression of lung pathology and trauma. In the presented study, stress relaxation measurements were performed to quantify relaxation behavior of pig lungs. Results have uncovered certain trends, including an initial steep decay followed by a slow asymptotic relaxation, which would be better described by a power law than exponential decay. The fractional standard linear solid (FSLS) and two integer order viscoelastic models - standard linear solid (SLS) and generalized Maxwell (GM) - were used to fit the stress relaxation curves; the FSLS was found to be a better fit. It is suggested that fractional order viscoelastic models, which have nonlocal, multi-scale attributes and exhibit power law behavior, better capture the lung parenchyma viscoelastic behavior.

Noninvasive measurement of mechanical wave motion (sound and vibration) in the lungs may be of diagnostic value, as it can provide information about the mechanical properties of the lungs, which in turn are affected by disease and injury. In this study, two previously derived theoretical models of the vibroacoustic behavior of the lung parenchyma are compared: (1) a Biot theory of poroviscoelasticity and (2) an effective medium theory for compression wave behavior (also known as a "bubble swarm" model). A fractional derivative formulation of shear viscoelasticity is integrated into both models. A measurable "fast" compression wave speed predicted by the Biot theory formulation has a significant frequency dependence that is not predicted by the effective medium theory. Biot theory also predicts a slow compression wave. The experimentally measured fast compression wave speed and attenuation in a pig lung ex vivo model agreed well with the Biot theory. To obtain the parameters for the Biot theory prediction, the following experiments were undertaken: quasistatic mechanical indentation measurements were performed to estimate the lung static shear modulus; surface wave measurements were performed to estimate lung tissue shear viscoelasticity; and flow permeability was measured on dried lung specimens. This study suggests that the Biot theory may provide a more robust and accurate model than the effective medium theory for wave propagation in the lungs over a wider frequency range.

Previous studies of the first author and others have focused on low audible frequency (<1 kHz) shear and surface wave motion in and on a viscoelastic material comprised of or representative of soft biological tissue. A specific case considered has been surface (Rayleigh) wave motion caused by a circular disk located on the surface and oscillating normal to it. Different approaches to identifying the type and coefficients of a viscoelastic model of the material based on these measurements have been proposed. One approach has been to optimize coefficients in an assumed viscoelastic model type to match measurements of the frequency-dependent Rayleigh wave speed. Another approach has been to optimize coefficients in an assumed viscoelastic model type to match the complex-valued frequency response function (FRF) between the excitation location and points at known radial distances from it. In the present article, the relative merits of these approaches are explored theoretically, computationally, and experimentally. It is concluded that matching the complex-valued FRF may provide a better estimate of the viscoelastic model type and parameter values; though, as the studies herein show, there are inherent limitations to identifying viscoelastic properties based on surface wave measurements.

Chest physical examination often includes performing chest percussion, which involves introducing sound stimulus to the chest wall and detecting an audible change. This approach relies on observations that underlying acoustic transmission, coupling, and resonance patterns can be altered by chest structure changes due to pathologies. More accurate detection and quantification of these acoustic alterations may provide further useful diagnostic information. To elucidate the physical processes involved, a realistic computer model of sound transmission in the chest is helpful. In the present study, a computational model was developed and validated by comparing its predictions with results from animal and human experiments which involved applying acoustic excitation to the anterior chest while detecting skin vibrations at the posterior chest. To investigate the effect of pathology on sound transmission, the computational model was used to simulate the effects of pneumothorax on sounds introduced at the anterior chest and detected at the posterior. Model predictions and experimental results showed similar trends. The model also predicted wave patterns inside the chest, which may be used to assess results of elastography measurements. Future animal and human tests may expand the predictive power of the model to include acoustic behavior for a wider range of pulmonary conditions.

Pneumothorax (PTX) is an abnormal accumulation of air between the lung and the chest wall. It is a relatively common and potentially life-threatening condition encountered in patients who are critically ill or have experienced trauma. Auscultatory signs of PTX include decreased breath sounds during the physical examination. The objective of this exploratory study was to investigate the changes in sound transmission in the thorax due to PTX in humans. Nineteen human subjects who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery, during which lung collapse is a normal part of the surgery, participated in the study. After subjects were intubated and mechanically ventilated, sounds were introduced into their airways via an endotracheal tube. Sounds were then measured over the chest surface before and after lung collapse. PTX caused small changes in acoustic transmission for frequencies below 400 Hz. A larger decrease in sound transmission was observed from 400 to 600 Hz, possibly due to the stronger acoustic transmission blocking of the pleural air. At frequencies above 1 kHz, the sound waves became weaker and so did their changes with PTX. The study elucidated some of the possible mechanisms of sound propagation changes with PTX. Sound transmission measurement was able to distinguish between baseline and PTX states in this small patient group. Future studies are needed to evaluate this technique in a wider population.