Background: Telemonitoring trials for early detection of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) have provided mixed results. Day-to-day variations in lung function measured by the forced oscillation technique (FOT) may yield greater insight. We evaluated the clinical utility of home telemonitoring of variability in FOT measures in terms of 1) the relationship with symptoms and quality of life (QoL); and 2) the timing of variability of FOT measures and symptom changes prior to AECOPD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis
February 2021
Rationale: Pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reduces dyspnoea and improves exercise capacity and quality of life. The improvement in exercise capacity is variable and unpredictable, however. Respiratory system impedance obtained by forced oscillation technique (FOT) as a measure of ventilatory impairment in COPD may relate to improvement in exercise capacity with pulmonary rehabilitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a functional imaging technique that allows real-time monitoring of ventilation distribution. Ventilation heterogeneity (VH) is a characteristic feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has previously been quantified using features derived from tidal variations in the amplitude of the EIT signal. However, VH may be better described by time-based metrics, the measurement of which is made possible by the high temporal resolution of EIT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objective: Fixed airflow obstruction (FAO) in asthma occurs despite optimal inhaled treatment and no smoking history, and remains a significant problem, particularly with increasing age and duration of asthma. Increased lung compliance and loss of lung elastic recoil has been observed in older people with asthma, but their link to FAO has not been established. We determined the relationship between abnormal lung elasticity and airflow obstruction in asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe are currently limited in our abilities to diagnose, monitor disease status and manage chronic airway disease like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Conventional lung function measures often poorly reflect patient symptoms or are insensitive to changes, particularly in the small airways where disease may originate or manifest. Novel pulmonary function tests are becoming available which help us better characterise and understand chronic airway disease, and their translation and adoption from the research arena would potentially enable individualised patient care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe forced oscillation technique (FOT) is an emerging clinical lung function test, with commercial devices becoming increasingly available. However comparability across existing devices has not been established. We evaluated in vivo and in vitro measurements made using three commercial devices against a custom-built device (WIMR): Resmon Pro Diary (Restech srl, Italy), tremoFlo C-100 (Thorasys Medical Systems, Canada), Jaeger Masterscope CT IOS (CareFusion, Hoechberg, Germany).
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