Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Fantastic Voyage into the Human Lung

June 25, 2014 By Children's Hospital Los Angeles

NIH awards $4 million to map developing lung

A virtual tour of the lung (Credit: The Saban Research Institute)A team of investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been awarded $4 million over five years by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for LungMAP, an atlas of the developing human lung.

Borrowing from Hollywood blockbusters, the researchers are employing state-of-the-art animation technology in combination with advanced optical imaging and high-resolution x-ray imaging techniques. This novel technology will allow them to explore the composition and interaction of cells in the developing lung and to follow how the processes evolve over time.

The fetal lung is one of the last organs of the body to become fully functional. Development of the alveolus –tiny air sacs in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged– remains the critical factor in newborn viability as well as the origin of many childhood breathing disorders.

“Human alveolar development is currently a ‘black box’ because of the challenges of being able to see alveoli as they grow,” said principal investigator David Warburton, OBE, DSc, MD, MMM, director of the Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine program at The Saban Research Institute. “Using newly optimized visualization technology we can now perform a ‘virtual bronchoscopy’ that begins in the bronchus and allows us to peer into the alveolus.”

Alveolarization begins in humans at 20 to 24 weeks gestation and continues until at least age 7. To date, much of the information about this process has come from studying histological sections of lung. The LungMAP project will acquire information from the living, functioning lung. Using novel imaging technologies, the Saban researchers will create a high-resolution, four-dimensional map that catalogs the molecular, genetic and cellular events occurring during alveolar development in mice and humans.

By employing digital image processing techniques, high-resolution scans of real lung tissues can be converted into video. This approach enables observation of the overall topography of the airway as well as revealing information about the surfaces of individual cells. This video-based methodology allows researchers to easily visualize fine details of the lung, providing what co-investigator Rex Moats, Ph.D., calls a “Google street view” of addresses in the lung to be explored. The goal is for this map to be interactive in the same way that Google maps functions, Moats said.

“Our objectives are to radically transform our understanding of the formation of the gas exchange surface in the human lung, find new approaches to the care of premature infants, and to develop a better understanding of the numerous childhood- and adult-onset lung diseases,” said Warburton. Co-investigators and collaborators on the project include Warburton, Moats, Scott Fraser, Ph.D., Wei Shi, MD, Ph.D., Rusty Lansford, Ph.D., Andreas Fouras, Ph.D., Barbara Driscoll, Ph.D. and David Koos, Ph.D.

Related Articles Read More >

A photo of Capstan Medical's mitral valve implant, which uses nitinol.
Capstan Medical’s R&D head discusses the heart valve and robotics startup’s tech, engineering challenges and solutions, advice for others in medtech and how to join his team
An illustration of a neurosurgeon using a robotic endoscope to remove a brain tumor.
MDO Nitinol Innovation Special Report
A photo of Highridge Medical CEO Rebecca Whitney.
Highridge Medical is betting on this spine tech
A photo of the miniature Auxilium Biotechnologies implants made on the International Space Station.
Implants 3D-printed in space could enable nerve regeneration
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe