The Elements Of A Spirometer

By Kerri Turner


Spirometer is the term given to the machine that has been designed to measure the volume of air that is expired and inspired by lungs. The structure is made to record the capacity of air and at what rate it is breathed over a given amount of time. Because it is also calculates the respiration rates, it is considered a pressure transducer.

This sort of device is applied for PFTs, Pulmonary Function Tests, which is a preliminary procedure used to check the health of lungs. The results received from this procedure can rule out emphysema, asthma, bronchitis and some other lung diseases. Spirometers can be used to check shortness of breath, as they can be used when evaluating effects of contaminants on the lungs, complications from medications and progression of disease therapies.

In the early part of the 1900s, a man named Brodie T G created the dry-bellowed wedge spirometer. Prior to this invention, there had been many unsuccessful tries to measure lung volume. Since the 1902 invention by Brodie, much progression has been made on the design and effectiveness of these devices. DuBois A B, Woestijine K P and Compton S D are other important figures who contributed to the development of this technology.

There are many different types of spirometers. Generally, they differ the most in the results that they can provide. Some of the most commonly used types: incentive, whole body plethysmograph, peak flow meter, tilt-compensated, windmill, full electronic and pneumotachometer.

The whole body plethysmograph is known to offer the most accurate of measurements when compared to other similar versions. This model is applied to patients while they are in a small room. A pneumotachometer is capable of detecting differences in pressure, which allows it to measure the gas flow rate.

Full-electronic versions do not need moving parts or fine meshes that other models rely on. They are able to computer rates of airflow in channels. They do this through application of ultrasonic transducers and other techniques, which aid in measuring air flow speed.

Incentive types are used with the intent to improve the functioning of lungs. Peak flow meters are good at measuring ability of patients to breath air out of the lungs, or exhale. Windmill models, also called spiropet spirometers, measure the forced vital capacity. Still, they do not apply water and can have measurements between 1000 and 7000 mL. Tilt-compensated versions, as their name suggests, can take measurements with the device in a horizontal position. This is one of the newer meter models.

A spirometer is a machine that is used within the field of medicine to check the function of respiratory system components. There are numerous models of this device that each provide their own set of results and functions; however, all of these devices have a main focus of measuring the amount of air volume that is exhaled and inhaled by lungs. The apparatus is often utilized for Pulmonary Function Tests, abbreviated as PFTs. Such meters were first invited during the early half of the nineteenth century, though there were previous attempts made to measure lung capacity.




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