Vital capacity Information & Vital capacity Links at HealthHaven.com

Output of a 'spirometer'

Vital capacity is the maximum amount of air a person can expel from the lungs after a maximum inspiration. It is equal to the inspiratory reserve volume plus the tidal volume plus the expiratory reserve volume.

Force vital capacity is the maximum volume of air that a person can exhale after maximum inhalation. It can also be the maximum volume of air that a person can inhale after maximum exhalation.

A person's vital capacity can be measured by a spirometer which can be a wet or regular spirometer. In combination with other physiological measurements, the vital capacity can help make a diagnosis of underlying lung disease. The unit that is used to determine this vital capacity is milliliters.

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v • d • e Respiratory system, physiology: respiratory physiology

Lung volumes	VC · FRC · Vt · dead space · CC calculations: respiratory minute volume · FEV1/FVC ratio devices: spirometry · body plethysmography · peak flow meter

Airways/ ventilation (V)	positive pressure ventilation · breath (inhalation, exhalation) · respiratory rate · respirometer · pulmonary surfactant · compliance · hysteresivity · airway resistance · bronchial hyperresponsiveness · bronchial challenge test · bronchoconstriction/bronchodilation

Blood/ perfusion (Q)	pulmonary circulation · hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction · pulmonary shunt

Interactions/ ventilation/perfusion ratio (V/Q)	ventilation/perfusion scan · zones of the lung · gas exchange · pulmonary gas pressures · alveolar gas equation · alveolar-arterial gradient · hemoglobin · oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve (2,3-DPG, Bohr effect, Haldane effect) · carbonic anhydrase (chloride shift) · oxyhemoglobin · respiratory quotient · arterial blood gas · diffusion capacity (DLCO)

Control of respiration	pons (pneumotaxic center, apneustic center) · medulla (dorsal respiratory group, ventral respiratory group) · chemoreceptors (central, peripheral) · pulmonary stretch receptors (Hering-Breuer reflex)

Insufficiency	high altitude · oxygen toxicity · hypoxia

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