Validation of Structured Light Plethysmography before and after a Bronchodilator Challenge - Research Proposal Example

The gas that has been blown out will then be analyzed to see how much went into the bloodstream through the lungs (De Boer, 2010). 28There exist various lung function tests, which are also referred to as the pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which check how well the lungs work. These tests determine the quantity of air that the lungs can hold, how fast air can possibly be moved in and out of the lungs, as well as the lungs’ ability to add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide into and from the blood respectively.

These tests have the ability to diagnose diseases of the lungs, to measure how severe the lung problems are, and to monitor the treatment of the lung diseases.The lung function may also be determined by the use of other tests such as gas diffusion tests, residual volume, spirometry, body plethysmography, exercise stress tests, and inhalation challenge tests. Some of these tests, such as spirometry (which measures the quantity of air which can be breathed in and out), body plethysmography (which measures the quantity of air present in the lungs after a deep breath as well as the quantity of air remaining in the lungs after breathing out fully), and lung diffusion capacity (which measures how well oxygen is passed from the lungs to the bloodstream), do not show the causes of breathing problems.

There are also blood oxygen tests which measure the level of oxygen in the blood, and they include arterial blood gas tests and pulse oxymetry (Zamarron, 2006).Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is a general term covering a wide range of clinical tests that can be carried out on a patient with a view to assessing respiratory status. A device employed in carrying out pulmonary function tests may broadly be classified as belonging to either one of two categories. In the first category, flow is measured, and it is referred to as pneumotachograph.

The second category is referred to as plethysmography and it involves the measuring of volume.