Abstract
A modification on Wagner's approach to the identification of lung compartments from multibreath nitrogen washout is proposed. Here, disturbances of the fraction of mean inspired N/sub 2/ (/sup 1/FN/sub 2/) and tidal volumes are taken into account, as well as the presence of a common series dead space. Both methods yielded good results for a two-compartment lung plus dead space, under various ventilation parameters, as shown by Monte-Carlo computer simulations, although Wagner's method tended to distort the shape of the distribution of ventilation. However, when /sup 1/FN/sub 2/ follows an exponential curve rather than a step, and when tidal volume is not constant, the modified version of Wagner's method performs better. Some restrictions to the method are also presented.
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