- COPD
- Diagnosis
- Diffusion tests find out how well the oxygen in the air you
breathe moves from your lungs into your blood. This test is done by
having you breathe into a mouthpiece connected to a machine. You will be
asked to empty your lungs by gently exhaling out as much air as
possible.
Then
you will breathe in a quick but deep breath, hold your breath for 10 seconds,
and breathe out as instructed. It usually takes about 15 minutes to complete
this test.
- Body plethysmography is a test to find out how much air is in your
lungs after you take in a deep breath and how much air is left in your
lungs after breathing out as much as you can. No matter how hard we try,
we can never exhale all of the air from our lungs. With COPD, the amount
of air left in your lungs is often more than normal.
Measuring
the total amount of air your lungs can hold and the amount of air left in your
lungs after you breath out gives your health care providers information about
your COPD and helps guide them in your treatment. This test requires that you
sit in an enclosed plastic box which you can see through. You will be asked to
wear a nose clip, and instructions will be given on how to breathe through a
mouthpiece. It usually takes about 15 minutes to complete this test.
ATS PATIENT INFORMATION SERIES & PATIENT HEALTH SERIES
http://patients.thoracic.org/information-series/en/resources/pulmonary-function-tests-in-copd.pdf
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