Every lung is unique and how easily it accepts medication can make a difference between life and death. That’s what researchers at University of Michigan discovered when they created a 3D lung simulation and tested three controversial studies that used surfactant replacement therapy to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adults.
Surfactant replacement is successfully used in neonatal children lacking in natural surfactant, but adults with ARDS who seemingly should benefit from the therapy have shown mixed and limited results. To figure out which factors may be creating this disconnect, the researchers simulated the methods used in the different studies and ran them on virtual models of patient lungs. What they discovered was that one study that did show substantial benefit of using surfactant replacement therapy used the same dose, but relied on a more diluted preparation of the surfactant. This allowed the medication to penetrate considerably deeper into the lungs of many of that study’s patients, reducing mortality by about half while followup studies failed.
Because this was possible only thanks to a fast simulation that didn’t require a supercomputer to run, the researchers believe that the same technology may be used to model patient lungs in clinical settings, extrapolating the optimal drug formulation and administration that will best fit each unique case. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and may lead to reduction in deaths due to ARDS, pneumonia, and other acute lung injuries.
Here’s a 3D simulation of the formulation used in the successful study. Colored bubbles are the surfactant, with red areas showing more penetration.
Study in PNAS: Three-dimensional model of surfactant replacement therapy…
Source: University of Michigan…