AN ACCURATE METHOD TO CHARACTERIZE AIRWAY NITRIC OXIDE USING DIFFERENT BREATH-HOLD TIMES INCLUDING AXIAL DIFFUSION OF NITRIC OXIDE USING HELIOX AND BREATH HOLD

摘要

An apparatus and method to characterize NO gas exchange dynamics in human lungs comprising the steps of: (1) performing a series of breath hold maneuvers of progressively increasingly breath hold times, each breath hold maneuver comprising a) inhaling a gas, b) holding a breath for a selected time duration, and c) exhaling at a flow rate which is; uncontrolled but which is effective to ensure evacuation of the airway space and (2) measuring airway NO parameters during consecutive breath hold maneuvers. As a result disease states of the lungs are diagnosed using the measured airway NO parameters.