Pulmonary Function Testing

The Adult Pulmonary Function Lab offers a diverse range of physiology studies. Below is a comprehensive list. Please click on the following link to learn more details about each study: Lab Study List

  1. Pulmonary Function Test (PFT): This test measures lung function.
  2. Spirometry: This is one part of the PFT test which measures lung size and how fast a patient can breathe air in and out.
  3. Arterial Blood Gas (ABG): This is a blood test taken from an artery of the wrist and measures the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
  4. Exercise - with Arterial Line: This test monitors lung and heart function and ABG while exercising at gradually increasing workloads to a maximal level.
  5. Exercise - with Arterial Line and Screening Protocol for Induced Asthma: This test measures whether symptoms (shortness of breath, chest tightness, etc.) are triggered by exercise.
  6. Exercise - Bloodless: This test monitors lung and heart function while exercising at gradually increasing workloads to a maximal level.
  7. Exercise - Bloodless with Screening Protocol for Induced Asthma: This test measures whether symptoms (shortness of breath, chest tightness, etc.) are triggered by exercise.
  8. Exercise – Bloodless with Formal Protocol for Induced Asthma: This test is similar to test #7, except that the patient will cycle until reaching a specific heart rate, and then stay at that level of exercise for a few minutes. 
  9. Oxygen Prescription by Ergometer with Oximetry: This test measures whether a patient needs additional oxygen to breathe normally while exercising on a stationary bicycle.
  10. Oxygen Prescription by Ergometer with Arterial Line: This test measures whether a patient needs additional oxygen to breathe normally by drawing blood from an artery in the wrist.
  11. Oxygen Prescription by Walk with Oximetry: This test measures whether a patient needs additional oxygen to breathe normally while walking. 
  12. Methacholine provocation: This test measures whether a patient's airways are overly sensitive, or hyper reactive ("twitchy") when breathing a drug called methacholine. This test is one way to evaluate patients for asthma.
  13. Altitude Simulation: This test is designed to evaluate whether a patient's breathing and oxygenation will be affected by high altitudes (i.e., airplane travel, mountain climbing, and travel to Reno or Tahoe).