Spirometry – Lung Function Testing

A spirometer is a vital tool used to diagnose and manage many different types of lung diseases.  Spirometry products require high performance differential pressure sensors to accurately diagnose a patient’s lung functions. Additionally, these handheld units must provide highly accurate readings regardless of how the unit is positioned when held. Additional measurements are typically required to ensure accurate results due to unstable sensor zero functionality. 

Spirometry measures lung capacity and volume under various test conditions. Some of the most common measurements:

• Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) – largest amount of air that you can blow out after taking your biggest breath
• Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1) – amount of air you can blow out in the first second of exhalation.\
• PEF (Peak Expiratory Flow), MVV (Maximum Voluntary Ventilation), TLC (Total Lung Capacity), and other measurements.

For example, the value of FVC together with FEV1 can help diagnose the type of lung disease present. 

A low FEV1 value indicates that there is a blockage in the air flow out of the lungs – a critical item to be monitored for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) . Spirometry is thought to be the most reliable way to test your lungs for COPD and asthma. Additionally, Spirometry testing determines the severity of the disease and is done to cross check the efficacy of a given lung treatment. 

SP Series Differential Pressure Sensors

Superior Sensor has optimized the SP Series of differential pressure sensors for spirometry and FOT (forced oscillation technique). This product family addresses the performance requirements with a highly unique and differentiated offering: 

• Improved auto-zero performance using the proprietary Z-Track algorithm to maintain minimal zero point deviation – Virtually eliminating the impact of zero drift.
• Positionally insensitive devices – Maintaining consistent and highly accurate handheld readings regardless of physical orientation of the spirometer.
• Sensor accuracy, total error band and short-term zero stability are the best in class – ensuring consistently precise Spirometry measurements, yielding faster and more accurate patient diagnosis.
• Warm-up time is essentially eliminated – Excellent choice for time critical applications.
• Low power consumption – compatible with leading handheld requirements.