Noninvasive Pulmonary Function Tests - Thesis Example

Pulmonary function tests (abbreviated PFT), which are also known as lung functions tests, are tests which are used so as to provide measures of gas exchange, lung volumes, flow rates, and respiratory muscle function. 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 of carbon dioxide into and from the blood respectively. According to Goldman (2005) and De Boer (2010) the pulmonary function tests have the ability to diagnose diseases of the lungs, to measure how sever the lung problems are, and to monitor the treatment of the lung diseases.

Since the spirometer was first developed in 1846 by Hutchinson, measurements of the dynamic volumes of the lung as well as of maximal flow rates have been employed to detect and quantify the diseases which affect the airways and lung parenchyma (White, 2004). The lung function may be determined by the use of tests such as gas diffusion tests, residual volume, spirometry, body plethysmography, exercise stress tests, and inhalation challenge tests. Some of these tests do not have the ability to show the causes of the breathing problems, and they include spirometry, body plethysmography, and lung diffusion capacity. There also exist blood oxygen tests which measure the quantity/level of oxygen in the blood, and they include pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas tests (Zamarron, 2006).

Airways diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (abbreviated as COPD) involve a complex interplay of various inflammatory as well as structural cell types, which have the ability to release inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, growth factors, chemokines and adhesion molecules. Eosinophils which are activated are considered to be important particularly in asthma and contribute significantly to epithelial cell damage, plasma exudation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and oedema of the airway mucosa, in addition to smooth muscle hypertrophy as well as mucus plugging, through enzymes and proteins release (Kroegel et al., 1994; Moqbel, 1996; Barnes, 1996).