Static Lung Volumes in Singers

1973 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilbur J. Gould ◽  
Hiroshi Okamura

It has long been assumed that the superior vocal ability of the trained professional singer arose from a higher than average breathing capacity and consequent above-normal ventilatory efficiency. However, until now, it has not been clear whether this presumed superior pulmonary capacity and breathing efficiency arose from training, from heredity, or from other factors. To clarify the role of training (and by inference that of other factors also) upon the capacity for singing, various indices reflecting static lung volumes, as distinguished from dynamic parameters measured during the act of singing, in trained professional singers, students of voice and subjects with no vocal training, were compared. Results indicated that contrary to reports by others, there were no significant differences in the total lung capacity (TLC) of the trained professional singer and that of the other two groups when allowances were made for age and sex; but when the ability to mobilize or utilize TLC was compared, it was found that the trained singer was much better able to do this than either of the other two groups. Specifically, it was found that the ratio of the residual lung volume (RV) (the amount of air remaining in the lungs at the end of a total voluntary expiration) to TLC was lower in the trained singer than in the students of voice, and that these students, in turn, had a lower RV/TLC ratio than the untrained subjects. These findings, therefore, suggest that the increased singing ability of the trained professional singer arises in large part from the ability to increase breathing efficiency by reducing the residual lung volume and, further, that this ability tends to improve with length of vocal training.

1960 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley S. Heller ◽  
William R. Hicks ◽  
Walter S. Root

Lung volume determinations (tidal volume, inspiratory capacity, inspiratory reserve volume, expiratory reserve volume, vital capacity, maximum breathing capacity, functional residual capacity, residual volume, and total lung capacity) were carried out on 16 professional singers and 21 subjects who had had no professional vocal training. No differences were found between the two groups of subjects, whether recumbent or standing, which could not be explained upon the basis of age, size, or errors involved in making the measurements. Submitted on March 24, 1959


1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 516-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannette D. Hoit ◽  
Nancy Pearl Solomon ◽  
Thomas J. Hixon

This investigation was designed to test the hypothesis that voice onset time (VOT) varies as a function of lung volume. Recordings were made of five men as they repeated a phrase containing stressed /pi/ syllables, beginning at total lung capacity and ending at residual volume. VOT was found to be longer at high lung volumes and shorter at low lung volumes in most cases. This finding points out the need to take lung volume into account when using VOT as an index of laryngeal behavior in both healthy individuals and those with speech disorders.


1994 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 963-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. Marciniuk ◽  
G. Sridhar ◽  
R. E. Clemens ◽  
T. A. Zintel ◽  
C. G. Gallagher

Lung volumes were measured at rest and during exercise by an open-circuit N2-washout technique in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD). Exercise tidal flow-volume (F-V) curves were also compared with maximal F-V curves to investigate whether these patients demonstrated flow limitation. Seven patients underwent 4 min of constant work rate bicycle ergometer exercise at 40, 70, and 90% of their previously determined maximal work rates. End-expiratory lung volume and total lung capacity were measured at rest and near the end of each period of exercise. There was no significant change in end-expiratory lung volume or total lung capacity when resting measurements were compared with measurements at 40, 70, and 90% work rates. During exercise, expiratory flow limitation was evident in four patients who reported stopping exercise because of dyspnea. In the remaining patients who discontinued exercise because of leg fatigue, no flow limitation was evident. In all patients, the mean ratio of maximal minute ventilation to maximal ventilatory capacity (calculated from maximal F-V curves) was 67%. We conclude that lung volumes during exercise do not significantly differ from those at rest in this population and that patients with ILD may demonstrate expiratory flow limitation during exercise. Furthermore, because most patients with ILD are not breathing near their maximal ventilatory capacity at the end of exercise, we suggest that respiratory mechanics are not the primary cause of their exercise limitation.


2000 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 1591-1600 ◽  
Author(s):  
George P. Topulos ◽  
Richard E. Brown ◽  
James P. Butler

The pressure-volume (P-V) characteristics of the lung microcirculation are important determinants of the pattern of pulmonary perfusion and of red and white cell transit times. Using diffuse light scattering, we measured capillary P-V loops in seven excised perfused dog lobes at four lung volumes, from functional residual capacity (FRC) to total lung capacity (TLC), over a wide range of vascular transmural pressures (Ptm). At Ptm 5 cmH2O, specific compliance of the microvasculature was 8.6%/cmH2O near FRC, decreasing to 2.7%/cmH2O as lung volume increased to TLC. At low lung volumes, the vasculature showed signs of strain stiffening (specific compliance fell as Ptm rose), but stiffening decreased as lung volume increased and was essentially absent at TLC. The P-V loops were smooth without sharp transitions, consistent with vascular distension as the primary mode of changes in vascular volume with changes in Ptm. Hysteresis was small (0.013) at all lung volumes, suggesting that, although surface tension may set basal capillary shape, it does not strongly affect capillary compliance.


1983 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 1321-1332 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C. Smaldone ◽  
W. Mitzner ◽  
H. Itoh

The behavior of terminal lung units (alveoli) with changes in lung volume is controversial. For example, different investigators using similar techniques have suggested that alveoli expand homogeneously or, conversely, get smaller with increases in lung volume. We studied this problem by filling excised dog lobes with monodisperse aerosol and observing deposition at zero airflow. Under these conditions, the deposition of particles is inversely proportional to a mean alveolar linear dimension (ALD). With this technique, changes in ALD were assessed as the lung ventilated along its pressure-volume (PV) curve. PV curves were generated using a rapid cycling technique that minimized trapping and allowed reversible regulation of inflation-deflation hysteresis. Irreversible changes in PV hysteresis were assessed by rinsing the lung with Tween. With significant PV hysteresis, the ALD progressively decreased with inflation to total lung capacity (TLC). With deflation from TLC, the ALD was unchanged until low volumes were reached, when it decreased markedly. When PV hysteresis was minimized (reversibly or irreversibly), inflation and deflation ALD were superimposed. These data are consistent with progressive alveolar recruitment with inflation to TLC and derecruitment with deflation. The correlation between alveolar dimensions and PV hysteresis suggests that shifts in the PV curve can be accounted for by changes in the population of units. The number open at any given point is determined by the dynamic history of inflation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Bennett ◽  
Gerhard Scheuch ◽  
Kirby L. Zeman ◽  
James S. Brown ◽  
Chong Kim ◽  
...  

The regional deposition of particles in boluses delivered to shallow lung depths and their subsequent retention in the airways may depend on the lung volume at which the boluses are delivered. To evaluate the effect of end-inspiratory lung volume on aerosol bolus delivery, we had healthy subjects inhale radiolabeled, monodisperse aerosol (99mTc-iron oxide, 3.5-μm mass median aerodynamic diameter) boluses (40 ml) to a volumetric front depth of 70 ml into the lung at lung volumes of 50, 70, and 85% of total lung capacity (TLC) end inhalation. By gamma camera analysis, we found significantly greater deposition in the left (L) vs. right (R) lungs at the 70 and 85% TLC end inhalation; ratio of deposition in L to R lung, normalized to L-to-R ratio of lung volume (mean L/R), was 1.60 ± 0.45 (SD) and 1.96 ± 0.72, respectively ( P < 0.001 for comparison to 1.0) for posterior images. However, at 50% TLC, L/R was 1.23 ± 0.37, not significantly different from 1.0. These data suggest that the L and R lungs may be expanding nonuniformly at higher lung volumes. On the other hand, subsequent retention of deposited particles at 2 and 24 h postdeposition was independent of L/R at the various lung volumes. Thus asymmetric bolus ventilation for these very shallow boluses does not lead to significant increases in peripheral alveolar deposition. These data may prove useful for 1) designing aerosol delivery techniques to target bronchial airways and 2) understanding airway retention of inhaled particles.


1997 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cohn ◽  
Joshua O. Benditt ◽  
Scott Eveloff ◽  
F. Dennis McCool

Cohn, David, Joshua O. Benditt, Scott Eveloff, and F. Dennis McCool. Diaphragm thickening during inspiration. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(1): 291–296, 1997.—Ultrasound has been used to measure diaphragm thickness ( T di) in the area where the diaphragm abuts the rib cage (zone of apposition). However, the degree of diaphragm thickening during inspiration reported as obtained by one-dimensional M-mode ultrasound was greater than that predicted by using other radiographic techniques. Because two-dimensional (2-D) ultrasound provides greater anatomic definition of the diaphragm and neighboring structures, we used this technique to reevaluate the relationship between lung volume and T di. We first established the accuracy and reproducibility of 2-D ultrasound by measuring T diwith a 7.5-MHz transducer in 26 cadavers. We found that T di measured by ultrasound correlated significantly with that measured by ruler ( R 2 = 0.89), with the slope of this relationship approximating a line of identity ( y = 0.89 x + 0.04 mm). The relationship between lung volume and T di was then studied in nine subjects by obtaining diaphragm images at the five target lung volumes [25% increments from residual volume (RV) to total lung capacity (TLC)]. Plots of T di vs. lung volume demonstrated that the diaphragm thickened as lung volume increased, with a more rapid rate of thickening at the higher lung volumes [ T di = 1.74 vital capacity (VC)2 + 0.26 VC + 2.7 mm] ( R 2= 0.99; P < 0.001) where lung volume is expressed as a fraction of VC. The mean increase in T di between RV and TLC for the group was 54% (range 42–78%). We conclude that 2-D ultrasound can accurately measure T di and that the average thickening of the diaphragm when a subject is inhaling from RV to TLC using this technique is in the range of what would be predicted from a 35% shortening of the diaphragm.


1999 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 1357-1366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. McClaran ◽  
Thomas J. Wetter ◽  
David F. Pegelow ◽  
Jerome A. Dempsey

We determined the role of expiratory flow limitation (EFL) on the ventilatory response to heavy exercise in six trained male cyclists [maximal O2 uptake = 65 ± 8 (range 55–74) ml ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ min−1] with normal lung function. Each subject completed four progressive cycle ergometer tests to exhaustion in random order: two trials while breathing N2O2(26% O2-balance N2), one with and one without added dead space, and two trials while breathing HeO2 (26% O2-balance He), one with and one without added dead space. EFL was defined by the proximity of the tidal to the maximal flow-volume loop. With N2O2during heavy and maximal exercise, 1) EFL was present in all six subjects during heavy [19 ± 2% of tidal volume (Vt) intersected the maximal flow-volume loop] and maximal exercise (43 ± 8% of Vt), 2) the slopes of the ventilation (ΔV˙e) and peak esophageal pressure responses to added dead space (e.g., ΔV˙e/[Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is end-tidal[Formula: see text]) were reduced relative to submaximal exercise, 3) end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) increased and end-inspiratory lung volume reached a plateau at 88–91% of total lung capacity, and 4) Vt reached a plateau and then fell as work rate increased. With HeO2 (compared with N2O2) breathing during heavy and maximal exercise, 1) HeO2 increased maximal flow rates (from 20 to 38%) throughout the range of vital capacity, which reduced EFL in all subjects during tidal breathing, 2) the gains of the ventilatory and inspiratory esophageal pressure responses to added dead space increased over those during room air breathing and were similar at all exercise intensities, 3) EELV was lower and end-inspiratory lung volume remained near 90% of total lung capacity, and 4) Vt was increased relative to room air breathing. We conclude that EFL or even impending EFL during heavy and maximal exercise and with added dead space in fit subjects causes EELV to increase, reduces the Vt, and constrains the increase in respiratory motor output and ventilation.


Author(s):  
Guido Ferretti

This article discusses the limits of deep breath-hold diving in humans. After a short historical introduction and a discussion of the evolution of depth records, the classical theories of breath-hold diving limits are presented and discussed, namely that of the ratio between total lung capacity and residual volume and that of blood shift, implying an increase in central blood volume. Then the current vision is introduced, based on the principles of the energetics of muscular exercise. The new vision has turned the classical vision upside down, moving the discussion to a different level. A direct consequence of the new theory is the importance of having large lung volumes at the start of a dive, in order to increase body oxygen stores. I finally discuss the role of anaerobic lactic metabolism as a possible mechanism of oxygen preservation, thus prolonging breath-hold duration.


1980 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 566-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Cassidy ◽  
M. Ramanathan ◽  
G. L. Rose ◽  
R. L. Johnson

The diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) varies directly with lung volume (VA) when measured during a breath-holding interval. DLCO measured during a slow exhalation from total lung capacity (TLC) to functional residual capacity (FRC) does not vary as VA changes. Since VA is reached by inhaling during breath holding and by exhaling during the slow exhalation maneuver, we hypothesized that the variability in the relation between DLCO and VA was due to hysteresis. To test this hypothesis, breath-holding measurements of DLCO were made at three lung volumes, both when VA was reached by inhaling from residual volume (RV) and when Va was reached by exhaling from TLC. At 72% TLC, DLCO was 22% higher when VA was reached by exhalation compared to inhalation (P < 0.02). At 52% TLC, DLCO was 19% higher when VA was reached by exhalation compared to exhalation (P < 0.005). DCLO measured during a slow exhalation fell on the exhalation limb of the CLCO/VA curve. these data indicate that there is hysteresis in DLCO with respect to lung volume.


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