Moment analysis of multibreath lung washout.

A moment analysis of multibreath nitrogen washout has been developed to provide a sensitive, quantitative measure that characterizes the inhomogeneity of pulmonary ventilation. To test the analysis scheme, we studied 5 normal subjects and 16 subjects with obstructive lung disease who performed each washout test at constant tidal volume and frequency. Subjects executed the wahout test 3-4 times at different tidal volumes (0.5-1.5 liters) and frequencies (10-30/min). Plotting washout data as dimensionless end-tidal nitrogen concentration versus the cumulative expired volume normalized by the functional residual capacity (CEV/FRC) renders the washout curves of each individual almost superposab le despite changes in breathing frequency and tidal volume from test to test. The dimensionless washout curve is treated as a distribution from which the normalized first (M1/Mo) and second (M2/Mo) moments are obtained. These parameters clearly display diagnostic clustering for various disease states. With respect to the normal subjects, the magnitude of M1/Mo was 26% greater for asthmatics, 38% greater for bronchitics, and 52% greater for emphysematics. This moment analysis provides an objective, quantitative assessment of the extent of ventilation inhomogeneities without specification of a lung model.