<Objective> With the ASL5000^TM lung simulator (IngMar Medical, Pittsburg, USA), nonlinear pressure-volume curves can be drawn, but their accuracy has not been clarified. In this study, pressure-volume curves obtained with the ASL5000^TM were compared with those obtained with the super-syringe method to investigate accuracy.
<Methods> The upper inflection point (UIP) of the lung simulator was set at 25 cmH₂O, while the lower inflection point (LIP) was set at either 5, 10, or 15 cmH₂O. Under each condition, airway resistance was set at either 10 or 50 cmH₂O/L/sec. After connecting a syringe to the lung simulator, air was injected from 0 to 600 mL in 20 mL increments, and pressure-volume curves were drawn by the super-syringe method or the lung simulator.
<Results> The pressure-volume curves obtained with the super-syringe method were mostly comparable to those obtained with the lung simulator. Irrespective of airway resistance, LIP and UIP were mostly comparable between the super-syringe method and the lung simulator method.
<Conclusion> The results suggest a high level of reliability for nonlinear pressure-volume curves obtained with the ASL5000^TM lung simulator.

View full abstract