Anatomy, Thorax, Bronchial
2026 Jan
Abstract
The lungs are the vital respiration organs in the thorax. Healthy human lung tissue is soft, light, and spongy.  These characteristics facilitate and allow for elasticity and recoil for normal dynamic function.  The lungs subdivide into lung parenchyma (the portion of the lung involved in gas transfer) and bronchi (airways, non-respiratory tissues). The bronchi (singular. bronchus ) are an extension of the trachea and serve as the central passageway into the lungs. Together, these two structures form the tracheobronchial tree of the lungs, with its primary purpose being to transport inspired air into the lungs where oxygen-deprived blood becomes oxygenated. Understanding how the alveolar mechanics work in live lungs is essential for comprehending how the lung behaves during breathing. Due to the lack of appropriate imaging tools, previous research has suggested that alveolar morphologies are polyhedral rather than spherical based on a 2D examination of alveoli in fixed lungs. Here, we directly observe high-resolution 3D alveoli in live mice lungs utilizing synchrotron x-ray microtomography to show spherical alveolar morphologies from the live lungs. Our measurements from x-ray microtomography show high sphericity, low packing density, big alveolar size, and low osmotic pressure, indicating that spherical alveolar morphologies are natural in living lungs. The alveolar packing fraction is quite low in live lungs, where the spherical alveoli would behave like free bubbles, while the confinement of alveolar clusters in fixed lungs would lead to significant morphological deformations of the alveoli appearing polyhedral. Direct observations of the spherical alveolar shapes will help understand and treat lung disease and ventilation.
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