spirometry (redirected from pulmonary function test)

spirometry [spī′räm·ə·trē]

(physiology)

The measurement, by a form of gas meter (spirometer), of volumes of air that can be moved in or out of the lungs.

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Spirometry

The measurement, by a form of gas meter, of volumes of gas that can be moved in or out of the lungs. The classical spirometer is a hollow cylinder (bell) closed at its top. With its open end immersed in a larger cylinder filled with water, it is suspended by a chain running over a pulley and attached to a counterweight. The magnitude of a gas volume entering or leaving is proportional to the vertical excursion of the bell. Volume changes can also be determined from measurements of flow, or rate of volume change, that can be sensed and recorded continuously by a transducer that generates an electrical signal. The flow signal can be continuously integrated to yield a volume trace.

The volume of gas moved in or out with each breath is the tidal volume; the maximal possible value is the vital capacity. Even after the most complete expiration, a volume of gas that cannot be measured by the above methods, that is, the residual volume, remains in the lungs. It is usually measured by a gas dilution method or by an instrument that measures blood flow in the lungs. Lung volumes can also be estimated by radiological or optical methods.

At the end of an expiration during normal resting breathing, the muscles of breathing are minimally active. Passive (elastic and gravitational) forces of the lungs balance those of the chest wall. In this state the volume of gas in the lungs is the functional residual capacity or relaxation volume. Displacement from this volume requires energy from natural (breathing muscles) or artificial (mechanical) sources. See Respiration