Imaging of airways: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Visualization of airways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is important for understanding the disease and therapeutic management. Today a perpendicular visualization and measurement of airway diameter and wall thickness are possible. Postprocessing software allows for the automatic segmentation and quantification. MR imaging is well suited for gaining functional information on perfusion and ventilation in COPD, while direct visualization and measurement of peripheral airways is not possible up to now.