Inventors:
Mohy G. Morris - Little Rock AR, US
Assignee:
Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas - Little Rock AR
Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Inc. - Little Rock AR
International Classification:
A61B 5/08
Abstract:
A Comprehensive Integrated Testing Protocol (CITP) incorporates precise measurements of the dynamic and the static lung volumes and capacities at Vfor routine infant lung function testing. The static functional residual capacity (sFRC) in infants is measured after a short hyperventilation induces a post-hyperventilation apnea (PHA) that abolishes the infant's breathing strategies and creates a reliable volume landmark. A measurement of the sFRC is then obtained by inert gas washout; e. g. , by measuring the volume of nitrogen expired after end-passive expiratory switching of the inspired gas from room air to 100% oxygen during the PHA. A true measurement of the total lung capacity (TLC) is obtained from the sum of (1) the passively exhaled gas volume from a Pao plateau of 30 cm HO through a pneumotachometer (PNT) by integrating the flow signal to produce volume, which is the inspiratory capacity (IC), and (2) the sFRC. From intrasubject TLC and residual volume (RV), the difference is a reliable estimate of the slow vital capacity (SVC). Similar measurements may be obtained with a fastened squeeze jacket for comparison.