Plethysmography: history and recent advances

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary function testing
• Medical instrumentation

Background:

• Plethysmography has a historical basis in physiological measurement.
• Advancements have led to modern computerized systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of the computerized pneumoplethysmograph.
• To highlight the capabilities of the computer-aided pneumoplethysmogram (CAP).

Main Methods:

• Historical review of plethysmography.
• Description of modern computerized pneumoplethysmograph development.

Main Results:

• The computer-aided pneumoplethysmogram (CAP) enables numerous computations.
• CAP provides new, useful, and rapid patient information.

Conclusions:

• The CAP facilitates efficient data analysis and display.
• Future applications and development of CAP are anticipated.