Canadian Medical Guide > Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment > Diagnosis > Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures > Diagnostic Techniques, Respiratory System > Respiratory Function Tests Terms and Definitions

Respiratory Function Tests

Medical Definition:	Measurement of the various processes involved in the act of respiration: inspiration, expiration, oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, lung volume and compliance, etc.
Guide Notes:	GEN or unspecified; prefer specifics; NIM
Also Called:	Pulmonary Function Tests

Respiratory Function Tests Categories.

	Airway Resistance - Physiologically, the opposition to flow of air caused by the forces of friction. As a part of pulmonary function testing, it is the ratio of driving pressure to the rate of air flow.
	Blood Gas Analysis - Measurement of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.
	Bronchial Provocation Tests - Tests involving inhalation of allergens (nebulized or in dust form), nebulized pharmacologically active solutions (e.g., histamine, methacholine), or control solutions, followed by assessment of respiratory function. These tests are used in the diagnosis of asthma.
	Capnography - Continuous recording of the carbon dioxide content of expired air.
	Lung Compliance - The capability of the LUNGS to distend under pressure as measured by pulmonary volume change per unit pressure change. While not a complete description of the pressure-volume properties of the lung, it is nevertheless useful in practice as a measure of the comparative stiffness of the lung. (From Best & Taylor's Physiological Basis of Medical Practice, 12th ed, p562)
	Lung Volume Measurements - Measurement of the amount of air that the lungs may contain at various points in the respiratory cycle.
	Plethysmography, Whole Body - Measurement of the volume of gas in the lungs, including that which is trapped in poorly communicating air spaces. It is of particular use in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema. (Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)
	Pulmonary Gas Exchange - The exchange of OXYGEN and CARBON DIOXIDE between alveolar air and pulmonary capillary blood that occurs across the BLOOD-AIR BARRIER.
	Pulmonary Ventilation - The total volume of gas, inspired or expired, measured in liters per minute.
	Spirometry - Measurement of volume of air inhaled or exhaled by the lung.
	Work of Breathing - RESPIRATORY MUSCLE contraction during INHALATION. The work is accomplished in three phases: LUNG COMPLIANCE work, that required to expand the LUNGS against its elastic forces; tissue resistance work, that required to overcome the viscosity of the lung and chest wall structures; and AIRWAY RESISTANCE work, that required to overcome airway resistance during the movement of air into the lungs. Work of breathing does not refer to expiration, which is entirely a passive process caused by elastic recoil of the lung and chest cage. (Guyton, Textbook of Medical Physiology, 8th ed, p406)

Respiratory Function Tests Medical Definitions and Terms

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