Article
Article
Spirometry
Article By:
Otis, Arthur B. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Last reviewed:June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.647200
The measurement, by a form of gas meter, of volumes of gas that can be moved in or out of the lungs. The classical spirometer is a hollow cylinder (bell) closed at its top. With its open end immersed in a larger cylinder filled with water, it is suspended by a chain running over a pulley and attached to a counterweight (see illustration). The magnitude of a gas volume entering or leaving is proportional to the vertical excursion of the bell. In another type of spirometer, the bell is wedge-shaped and is constrained to rotate on an axis located along its apex. Volume changes are proportional to the arc traversed.
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