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A simple method to reconstruct the molar mass signal of respiratory gas to assess small airways with a double-tracer gas single-breath washout

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Abstract

For the assessment of small airway diseases, a noninvasive double-tracer gas single-breath washout (DTG-SBW) with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and helium (He) as tracer components has been proposed. It is assumed that small airway diseases may produce typical ventilation inhomogeneities which can be detected within one single tidal breath, when using two tracer components. Characteristic parameters calculated from a relative molar mass (MM) signal of the airflow during the washout expiration phase are analyzed. The DTG-SBW signal is acquired by subtracting a reconstructed MM signal without tracer gas from the signal measured with an ultrasonic sensor during in- and exhalation of the double-tracer gas for one tidal breath. In this paper, a simple method to determine the reconstructed MM signal is presented. Measurements on subjects with and without obstructive lung diseases including the small airways have shown high reliability and reproducibility of this method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Biomedizinische Technik, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Johannes Port, Ziran Tao, Annika Junger, Christoph Joppek, Philipp Tempel & Joachim H. Nagel

  2. Klinik Schillerhöhe, Zentrum für Pneumologie und Thoraxchirurgie, Robert-Bosch-Hospital, Gerlingen, Germany

    Kim Husemann & Martin Kohlhäufl

  3. University Children’s Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Florian Singer

  4. University Children’s Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Philipp Latzin & Sophie Yammine

  5. Internistische Facharztpraxis für Pneumologie, Allergologie, Thoraxonkologie, Bronchoskopie und Schlafmedizin, MVZ Klinikum Kempten GmbH, Kempten, Germany

    Kim Husemann

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  1. Johannes Port
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  2. Ziran Tao
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  3. Annika Junger
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  4. Christoph Joppek
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  5. Philipp Tempel
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  6. Kim Husemann
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  7. Florian Singer
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  8. Philipp Latzin
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  9. Sophie Yammine
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  10. Joachim H. Nagel
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  11. Martin Kohlhäufl
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Correspondence to Johannes Port.

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Port, J., Tao, Z., Junger, A. et al. A simple method to reconstruct the molar mass signal of respiratory gas to assess small airways with a double-tracer gas single-breath washout. Med Biol Eng Comput 55, 1975–1987 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1633-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1633-y

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