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Airway Resistance
In respiratory physiology, airway resistance is the resistance of the respiratory tract to airflow during inhalation and exhalation. Airway resistance can be measured using plethysmography. Definition Analogously to Ohm's law: :R_ = \frac Where: : = P_ - P_A So: :R_ = \frac Where: *R_ = Airway Resistance *P = Pressure Difference driving airflow *P_ = Atmospheric Pressure *P_A = Alveolar Pressure *\dot V = Volumetric Airflow (not minute ventilation which, confusingly, may be represented by the same symbol) N.B. PA and \dot V change constantly during the respiratory cycle. Determinants of airway resistance There are several important determinants of airway resistance including: *The diameter of the airways *Whether airflow is laminar or turbulent Hagen–Poiseuille equation In fluid dynamics, the Hagen–Poiseuille equation is a physical law that gives the pressure drop in a fluid flowing through a long cylindrical pipe. The assumptions of the equation are that the flow is la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Respiratory Physiology
In physiology, respiration is the transport of oxygen from the outside environment to the cells within tissues, and the removal of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction to the environment by a respiratory system. The physiological definition of respiration differs from the biochemical definition, which refers to a metabolic process by which an organism obtains energy (in the form of ATP and NADPH) by oxidizing nutrients and releasing waste products. Although physiologic respiration is necessary to sustain cellular respiration and thus life in animals, the processes are distinct: cellular respiration takes place in individual cells of the organism, while physiologic respiration concerns the diffusion and transport of metabolites between the organism and the external environment. Exchange of gases in the lung occurs by ventilation and perfusion. Ventilation refers to the in-and-out movement of air of the lungs and perfusion is the circulation of blood in the pulmonary capillar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radius
In classical geometry, a radius (: radii or radiuses) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its Centre (geometry), center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The radius of a regular polygon is the line segment or distance from its center to any of its Vertex (geometry), vertices. The name comes from the Latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the spoke of a chariot wheel.Definition of Radius at dictionary.reference.com. Accessed on 2009-08-08. The typical abbreviation and mathematical symbol for radius is ''R'' or ''r''. By extension, the diameter ''D'' is defined as twice the radius:Definition of radius at mathwords.com. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Respiratory Therapy
A respiratory therapist is a specialized healthcare practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people who have acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respiratory therapists graduate from a college or university with a degree in respiratory therapy and have passed a national board certifying examination. The NBRC ( National Board for Respiratory Care) is responsible for credentialing as a CRT ( certified respiratory therapist), or RRT (registered respiratory therapist) in the United States. The Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists and provincial regulatory colleges administer the RRT credential in Canada. The American specialty certifications of respiratory therapy include: CPFT and RPFT (Certified or Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist), ACCS (Adult Critical Care Specialist), NPS (Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist), and SDS (Sleep Disorder Specialist). Respiratory therapists work in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome
Upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) is a sleep disorder characterized by the narrowing of the airway that can cause disruptions to sleep. The symptoms include snoring, unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, sleepiness, chronic insomnia, and difficulty concentrating. UARS can be diagnosed by polysomnograms capable of detecting Respiratory Effort-related Arousals. It can be treated with lifestyle changes, functional orthodontics, surgery, mandibular repositioning devices or CPAP therapy. UARS is considered a variant of sleep apnea, although some scientists and doctors believe it to be a distinct disorder. History Upper airway resistance syndrome was first recognized at Stanford University in the late 1980s. The article that described it by name, along with its relationship to obstructive sleep apnea, was published in 1992 by Guilleminault et al. Signs and symptoms Symptoms of UARS are similar to those of obstructive sleep apnea, but not inherently overlapping. Fatigue, insomnia, daytim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turbulent Flow
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by Chaos theory, chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between those layers. Turbulence is commonly observed in everyday phenomena such as Breaking wave, surf, fast flowing rivers, billowing storm clouds, or smoke from a chimney, and most fluid flows occurring in nature or created in engineering applications are turbulent. Turbulence is caused by excessive kinetic energy in parts of a fluid flow, which overcomes the damping effect of the fluid's viscosity. For this reason, turbulence is commonly realized in low viscosity fluids. In general terms, in turbulent flow, unsteady vortices appear of many sizes which interact with each other, consequently Drag (physics), drag due to friction effects increases. The onset of turbulence can be predicted by the dimensionless Reynolds number, the rati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumatosis
Pneumatosis is the abnormal presence of air or other gas within tissues. In the lungs, emphysema involves enlargement of the distal airspaces,page 64 in: and is a major feature of (COPD). Other pneumatoses in the lungs are focal (localized) blebs and bullae, pulmonary cysts and cavities. Pneumoperitoneum (or per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. A sudden worsening of asthma symptoms sometimes called an 'asthma attack' or an 'asthma exacerbation' can occur when allergens, pollen, dust, or other particles, are inhaled into the lungs, causing the bronchioles to constrict and produce mucus, which then restricts oxygen flow to the alveoli. These may occur a few times a day or a few times per week. Depending on the person, asthma symptoms may become worse at night or with exercise. Asthma is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors include exposure to air pollution and allergens. Other potential triggers include medications such as aspirin and beta blockers. Diag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breathing Gas
A breathing gas is a mixture of gaseous chemical elements and compounds used for respiration. Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas, but other mixtures of gases, or pure oxygen, are also used in breathing equipment and enclosed habitats. Oxygen is the essential component for any breathing gas. Breathing gases for hyperbaric use have been developed to improve on the performance of ordinary air by reducing the risk of decompression sickness, reducing the duration of decompression, reducing nitrogen narcosis or reducing work of breathing and allowing safer deep diving. Description A breathing gas is a mixture of gaseous chemical elements and compounds used for respiration. Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. Other mixtures of gases, or pure oxygen, are also used in breathing equipment and enclosed habitats such as scuba equipment, surface supplied diving equipment, recompression chambers, high-altitude mountaineering, high-flying aircraf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heliox
Heliox is a breathing gas mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2). It is used as a medical treatment for patients with difficulty breathing because this mixture generates less resistance than atmospheric air when passing through the airways of the lungs, and thus requires less effort by a patient to breathe in and out of the lungs. It is also used as a breathing gas for deep ambient pressure diving as it is not narcotic at high pressure, and for its low work of breathing. Heliox has been used medically since the 1930s, and although the medical community adopted it initially to alleviate symptoms of upper airway obstruction, its range of medical uses has since expanded greatly, mostly because of the low density of the gas. Heliox is also used in saturation diving and sometimes during the deep phase of technical dives. Medical uses There is also some use of heliox in conditions of the medium airways (croup, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). A recent trial h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be used: \rho = \frac, where ''ρ'' is the density, ''m'' is the mass, and ''V'' is the volume. In some cases (for instance, in the United States oil and gas industry), density is loosely defined as its weight per unit volume, although this is scientifically inaccurate this quantity is more specifically called specific weight. For a pure substance, the density is equal to its mass concentration. Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant to buoyancy, purity and packaging. Osmium is the densest known element at standard conditions for temperature and pressure. To simplify comparisons of density across different systems of units, it is sometimes replaced by the dimensionless quantity "relative den ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reynolds Number
In fluid dynamics, the Reynolds number () is a dimensionless quantity that helps predict fluid flow patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between Inertia, inertial and viscous forces. At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be dominated by laminar flow, laminar (sheet-like) flow, while at high Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be turbulence, turbulent. The turbulence results from differences in the fluid's speed and direction, which may sometimes intersect or even move counter to the overall direction of the flow (Eddy (fluid dynamics), eddy currents). These eddy currents begin to churn the flow, using up energy in the process, which for liquids increases the chances of cavitation. The Reynolds number has wide applications, ranging from liquid flow in a pipe to the passage of air over an aircraft wing. It is used to predict the transition from laminar–turbulent transition, laminar to turbulent flow and is used in the scaling of similar but different-sized fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between those layers. Turbulence is commonly observed in everyday phenomena such as surf, fast flowing rivers, billowing storm clouds, or smoke from a chimney, and most fluid flows occurring in nature or created in engineering applications are turbulent. Turbulence is caused by excessive kinetic energy in parts of a fluid flow, which overcomes the damping effect of the fluid's viscosity. For this reason, turbulence is commonly realized in low viscosity fluids. In general terms, in turbulent flow, unsteady vortices appear of many sizes which interact with each other, consequently drag due to friction effects increases. The onset of turbulence can be predicted by the dimensionless Reynolds number, the ratio of kinetic energy to viscous damping ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
