Real time single particle imaging of functional lungs reveals mosaic-like patterns of aerosol deposition in alveoli
7 affiliations
- 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215
- 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520
- 3Boston University Pulmonary Center, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston MA 02118
- 4Department of Pharmaceutics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA 23284
- 5Department of Cancer Immunology and Virology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215
- 6Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA 23284
- 7Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston MA 02115
Abstract
Inhaled pathogens, pollutants and therapeutics interact with the dynamic architecture of the alveoli, yet how individual particles move and deposit at cellular resolution remains unclear. Here, utilizing the crystal ribcage platform, we track aerosol transport in ex vivo, actively ventilated lungs using real-time fluorescence imaging with single-particle resolution, capturing droplet trajectories, free-flight motion, impact orientation and deposition timescales within functional alveoli. These measurements show that intra-alveolar transport is directional and shaped by airway-guided flow and tissue motion. At larger scales, aerosols do not disperse uniformly throughout the lung's volume but instead concentrate into geometrically constrained clusters of alveoli, forming a conserved mosaic-like compartmentalization while neighbouring alveoli remain largely unexposed. The pattern persists across particle types and species and varies with particle properties and lung age. In models of emphysema, fibrosis and metastasis, airway remodelling alters both the geometry and amount of deposition. These multiscale insights reveal how single-particle transport and airway structure together shape alveolar exposure, immune activation, development and therapeutic accessibility.
Related
- Particle Morphometrics of Glycopyrronium-Formoterol-Budesonide Inhalation Blends Influence Pulmonary Deposition and Bronchodilator Response in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): A Gamma Scintigraphy Study
- Unilateral deposition of paramagnetic substances in basal ganglia as early sign of neurodegeneration in magnetic resonance imaging
- Regional brain iron deposition and functional alterations in thalassemia: a multimodal human study with murine validation.
- Clinical and Imaging Patterns of Neurological Involvement in Intravascular Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A Single-Center Retrospective Study †
- Stage‐Specific Patterns of Imaging and Non‐Motor Biomarkers in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3
BibTeX
@article{grifno2026real,
title = {{Real time single particle imaging of functional lungs reveals mosaic-like patterns of aerosol deposition in alveoli}},
author = {Gabrielle N. Grifno and Han Ali Kahvecioglu and Robert LeBourdais and Victoria Travnik and Rohin Banerji and Winita Wangsrikhun and Linzheng Shi and Suleyman B. Bozal and Heewon Suh and Ahmed A. Raslan and Athanasios Batgidis and Byungjun Kang and Feiyang Deng and Caleb Dalton and Andrew Tsao and Lauren Castle and Kathryn Regan and Abdulrahman Kobayter and Michael Vannini and Mohammad Rashidian and Liang Hao and Giovanni Ligresti and Joseph P. Mizgerd and Worth Longest and Michael Hindle and W. Mark Saltzman and James P. Butler and Béla Suki and Hadi T. Nia},
journal = {Nature biomedical engineering},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41551-026-01724-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-026-01724-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Real time single particle imaging of functional lungs reveals mosaic-like patterns of aerosol deposition in alveoli
AU - Gabrielle N. Grifno
AU - Han Ali Kahvecioglu
AU - Robert LeBourdais
AU - Victoria Travnik
AU - Rohin Banerji
AU - Winita Wangsrikhun
AU - Linzheng Shi
AU - Suleyman B. Bozal
AU - Heewon Suh
AU - Ahmed A. Raslan
AU - Athanasios Batgidis
AU - Byungjun Kang
AU - Feiyang Deng
AU - Caleb Dalton
AU - Andrew Tsao
AU - Lauren Castle
AU - Kathryn Regan
AU - Abdulrahman Kobayter
AU - Michael Vannini
AU - Mohammad Rashidian
AU - Liang Hao
AU - Giovanni Ligresti
AU - Joseph P. Mizgerd
AU - Worth Longest
AU - Michael Hindle
AU - W. Mark Saltzman
AU - James P. Butler
AU - Béla Suki
AU - Hadi T. Nia
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/08
JO - Nature biomedical engineering
DO - 10.1038/s41551-026-01724-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-026-01724-5
AB - Inhaled pathogens, pollutants and therapeutics interact with the dynamic architecture of the alveoli, yet how individual particles move and deposit at cellular resolution remains unclear. Here, utilizing the crystal ribcage platform, we track aerosol transport in ex vivo, actively ventilated lungs using real-time fluorescence imaging with single-particle resolution, capturing droplet trajectories, free-flight motion, impact orientation and deposition timescales within functional alveoli. These measurements show that intra-alveolar transport is directional and shaped by airway-guided flow and tissue motion. At larger scales, aerosols do not disperse uniformly throughout the lung's volume but instead concentrate into geometrically constrained clusters of alveoli, forming a conserved mosaic-like compartmentalization while neighbouring alveoli remain largely unexposed. The pattern persists across particle types and species and varies with particle properties and lung age. In models of emphysema, fibrosis and metastasis, airway remodelling alters both the geometry and amount of deposition. These multiscale insights reveal how single-particle transport and airway structure together shape alveolar exposure, immune activation, development and therapeutic accessibility.
SN - 2157-846X
ER -