Lung function tests check how well your lungs work. The tests can find lung problems, measure how serious they are, and check to see how well treatment for a lung disease is working.
The tests look at:
- How much air your lungs can hold.
- How quickly you can move air in and out of your lungs.
- How well your lungs put oxygen into and remove carbon dioxide from your blood.
Spirometry
Spirometry is the most common lung function test. It measures how much and how quickly you can move air out of your lungs. You breathe into a mouthpiece attached to a machine called a spirometer. The machine records your results.
Spirometry can measure many different things about the way you breathe. These include how much air you can exhale, how much air you can breathe in and out in 1 minute, and the amount of air left in your lungs after a normal exhale.