[Approximate Estimation of Human Bronchial Resistance during Forced Exhalation]

In this article, we present biomechanical, acoustic biomechanical and acoustic anthropometric surrogate measures of bronchial resistance during forced exhalation. It was shown that the biomechanical surrogate measure provides a rather accurate estimate of bronchial resistance in the middle and in the end of the forced expiratory maneuver in healthy subjects. Statistical prediction of the limits of normal bronchial resistance during forced exhalation in healthy individuals was proved to be possible on the basis of acoustic biomechanical and acoustic anthropometric surrogate measurements. We suggest that the ratio of increments of biomechanical and acoustic surrogate measures of bronchial resistance may be useful for estimating the extent of bronchial obstruction and detecting the affected levels of the bronchial tree of patients with obstructive lung diseases.