Evaluation of CT imaging biomarkers in the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree in patients Post-COVID-19

Evaluation of CT imaging biomarkers in the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree in patients Post-COVID-19 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluation of CT imaging biomarkers in the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree in patients Post-COVID-19 Didier Torres Guzmán, Aldo Montes de Oca Delgado, Eduardo Barbará Morales This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4172309/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Purpose : To evaluate the performance of discrete compactness (DC) and tortuosity (TR) metrics in the structures of the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree, by processing computed tomography (CT) images to quantify significant differences between populations of control subjects (HC) and patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: A total of 156 subjects were analyzed, 78 of which are HC and 78 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. The structures of the trachea and vascular tree were segmented using image processing, and volume, DC, and TR metrics were calculated. Subsequently, a statistical analysis was carried out to quantify whether there are significant differences between the groups analyzed in this research. Results: The statistical analysis presented significant differences for all the metrics evaluated with a p value < 0.05 between the HC populations and patients diagnosed with COVID-19. In particular, DC and TR measurements were very marked in the structure of the trachea with a value of p < 0.01. Conclusions: All the evaluated metrics presented statistically significant changes. In the case of CD and TR, the statistical variation was more significant in the region of the trachea and airways in patients diagnosed with COVID-19; This suggests that the proposed metrics are sensitive to the morphological changes that occur in these structures and could be considered as potentially useful imaging markers to quantify the damage caused by this pathology. Biomedical Engineering trachea and airways discrete compactness tortuosity computed tomography image processing Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4172309","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":284269348,"identity":"c42f5ed3-8b8c-4fba-be97-80f3e7921f33","order_by":0,"name":"Didier Torres Guzmán","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UNAM","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Didier","middleName":"Torres","lastName":"Guzmán","suffix":""},{"id":284269349,"identity":"5c2fedf6-2525-4fc7-b476-95326dfc1302","order_by":1,"name":"Aldo Montes de Oca Delgado","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UNAM","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aldo","middleName":"Montes de Oca","lastName":"Delgado","suffix":""},{"id":284269350,"identity":"8fd33d10-a912-4648-982d-2a2182c80c7b","order_by":2,"name":"Eduardo Barbará Morales","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCCBCBmY2AwAJMMDHIMUAbxWoxJ15LYQEgLP3uO4eeKMhsGc/azzx783GOX3j+7+dljnho7Bt0ZCVi1SPa8MZY8cy6NwbIn3dyw51ly7ow7x8yNeY4lM5idOYBVi8GNHAPJxrbDDAYH0tgkeA4w5zbcSDCT5mE7wGB2vAGrFvsbOcY/wVrOP2OT/HOgPl3+Rvo3aZ5/QC2HsfvFQCLHDGLLjTQ2aZ4DhxOA9ppJ87bhtkXizLMyy4ZzaTyWM56xG8scOG648UZOmeTcvmQeXH7hb0/efLOhzEbOnD+N7eGbA9XycjfSt0m8+WYnZ3YDe4jBAA8RIqNgFIyCUTAKiAYA6IRc/lj39+oAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Universidad Anáhuac Mayab","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eduardo","middleName":"Barbará","lastName":"Morales","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-26 21:54:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4172309/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4172309/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":53530882,"identity":"f8f948d1-1f18-4f30-a765-25207c7e175b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-27 06:18:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":463865,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EvaluationofCTImagingBiomarkers.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4172309/v1_covered_b90305c0-0177-48cf-868d-6353c3673d40.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eEvaluation of CT imaging biomarkers in the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree in patients Post-COVID-19\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Universidad Anáhuac","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"trachea and airways, discrete compactness, tortuosity, computed tomography, image processing","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4172309/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4172309/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePurpose\u003c/strong\u003e: To evaluate the performance of discrete compactness (DC) and tortuosity (TR) metrics in the structures of the trachea and pulmonary vascular tree, by processing computed tomography (CT) images to quantify significant differences between populations of control subjects (HC) and patients diagnosed with COVID-19.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e A total of 156 subjects were analyzed, 78 of which are HC and 78 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. The structures of the trachea and vascular tree were segmented using image processing, and volume, DC, and TR metrics were calculated. Subsequently, a statistical analysis was carried out to quantify whether there are significant differences between the groups analyzed in this research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e The statistical analysis presented significant differences for all the metrics evaluated with a p value \u0026lt; 0.05 between the HC populations and patients diagnosed with COVID-19. In particular, DC and TR measurements were very marked in the structure of the trachea with a value of p \u0026lt; 0.01.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e All the evaluated metrics presented statistically significant changes. 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