Quantitative analysis of emphysema using computed tomography (CT) is a reliable, reproducible method for evaluating the severity or extent of emphysema. In the field of imaging for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), CT-based quantitative analyses of emphysema have been extensively investigated and have proved to be predictors of spirometric values, similar to quantitative measurements of airway walls.1–4 Based on developments in imaging technology, many commercially available workstations can now provide fully automated quantitative analysis of emphysema using three-dimensional CT techniques, which enables researchers to more thoroughly understand the progression or distribution of emphysema