[Measurement of air leak volume after lung surgery using web-camera]

Persistent air leak from the lung is one of the major complications after lung operations, especially in the latest thoracic surgery, where a shorter hospital stay tends to be necessary. However, air leak volume has been rarely measured clinically because accustomed tools of gas flow meter were types which needed contact measure, and those were unstable in long-term use and high cost. We tried to measure air leak volume as follows: (1) Bubble was made in the water seal part of a drain bag. (2) The movement of bubbles was recorded with a web-camera. (3) The data from the movie was analyzed by Linux computer on-line. We believe this method is clinically applicable as a routine work after lung surgery because of non-contact type of measurements, its stableness in long-term, easiness to be handled, and reasonable in cost.