Esophageal pressure method and impulse oscillometry to assess mechanical properties of the respiratory system in healthy men.

Background: Lung elasticity can be assessed by pulmonary compliance using the esophageal pressure method, but this technique is invasive and time-consuming. Impulse oscillometry has been established as a non-invasive method to describe mechanical properties of the respiratory system and preliminary data suggest that it may be used as a marker of lung elasticity. Therefore we compared impulse oscillometry and pulmonary compliance in healthy subjects.