Pulmonary function testing & interpretation

Abstract

The assessment of human pulmonary function dates back to the seventeenth century, when the earliest measurements of tidal volume were noted. In 1800, Humphry Davy employed a hydrogen dilution technique to measure his own residual volume (RV).1 Subsequently, John Hutchinson, in his treatise, On the Capacity of the Lungs and on Respiratory Functions, defined the functional subdivisions of lung volume and reported the results of vital capacity measurements performed in more than 1800 subjects. He related these measurements to the subjects' height, age, and weight, thereby establishing a basis for determining normal values.2,3