How long should patient test data be retained?
In a recent post on the AARC Diagnostics forum a PFT Lab manager asked how long they need to keep database records. The ostensible reason for this was that they…
In a recent post on the AARC Diagnostics forum a PFT Lab manager asked how long they need to keep…
19 May 2014 May 19, 2014 • Leave a comment
What’s normal about FEV1 and how much does ethnicity matter?
When it comes to spirometry, it’s really all about FEV1. FVC and the FEV1/FVC ratio are also important of course, but because FVC is more likely to be underestimated than…
When it comes to spirometry, it’s really all about FEV1. FVC and the FEV1/FVC ratio are also important of course,…
13 May 2014 May 13, 2014 • Leave a comment
Personal spirometers, under $500
Pulmonary patients have been using personal peak flow meters for several decades and I started to seeing patients that had their own oximeter over 10 years ago. Within the last…
Pulmonary patients have been using personal peak flow meters for several decades and I started to seeing patients that had…
3 May 2014 May 3, 2014 • Leave a comment
Vd/Vt, how accurate is it really?
My lab stopped inserting A-lines to get arterial blood samples during exercise testing well over 10 years ago. Our decision was partly based on the fact that we didn’t do…
My lab stopped inserting A-lines to get arterial blood samples during exercise testing well over 10 years ago. Our decision…
26 Apr 2014 April 26, 2014 • Leave a comment
It wasn’t a leak
The most common problem we have with helium dilution FRC tests are leaks. Although the system tubing and spirometer bell leak occasionally, we do have valve failures relatively frequently. Valve…
The most common problem we have with helium dilution FRC tests are leaks. Although the system tubing and spirometer bell…
20 Apr 2014 April 20, 2014 • Leave a comment
Pneumotach accuracy
The first reasonably accurate flow-measuring device was the Fleisch pneumotachograph which was developed in 1925. Originally the Fleisch pneumotach bounced a light beam off a mirror mounted on a di…
The first reasonably accurate flow-measuring device was the Fleisch pneumotachograph which was developed in 1925. Originally the Fleisch pneumotach bounced…
13 Apr 2014 April 13, 2014 • Leave a comment
Student spirometers, what can they teach?
It’s been several decades since I last saw water-seal bell spirometers being used in a Pulmonary Function lab. They have been displaced mostly by systems that use flow sensors of…
It’s been several decades since I last saw water-seal bell spirometers being used in a Pulmonary Function lab. They have…
4 Apr 2014 April 4, 2014 • Leave a comment
OUES, a useful sub-maximal CPET indicator of maximum VO2
The primary goal of a Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test (CPET) is to determine an individual’s maximum oxygen consumption (VO2), minute ventilation (Ve) and heart rate (HR). An adequate CPET is …
The primary goal of a Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test (CPET) is to determine an individual’s maximum oxygen consumption (VO2), minute ventilation…
31 Mar 2014 March 31, 2014 • Leave a comment
An IC shows it’s probably not restriction
For the last couple of years it seems that I’ve had more problems than usual with lung volume tests. Even though this seems to date from the time that my…
For the last couple of years it seems that I’ve had more problems than usual with lung volume tests. Even…
22 Mar 2014 March 22, 2014 • Leave a comment