Metrology and Measurement Systems (Dec 2021)
Anatomical and functional assessment of patency of the upper respiratory tract in selected respiratory disorders – Part 1
Abstract
The rapidly developing measurement techniques and emerging new physical methods are frequently used in otolaryngological diagnostics. A wide range of applied diagnostic methods constituted the basis for the review study aimed at presenting selected modern diagnostic methods and achieved diagnostic results to a wider group of users. In this part, the methods based on measuring the respiratory parameters of patients were analysed. Respiration is the most important and necessary action to support life and its effective duration. It is an actual gas exchange in the respiratory system consisting of removing CO2 and supplying O2. Gas exchange occurs in the alveoli, and an efficient respiratory tract allows for effective ventilation. The disruption in the work of the respiratory system leads to measurable disturbances in blood saturation and, consequently, hypoxia. Frequent, even short-term, recurrent hypoxia in any part of the body leads to multiple complications. This process is largely related to its duration and the processes that accompany it. The causes of hypoxia resulting from impaired patency of the respiratory tract and/or the absence of neuronal respiratory drive can be divided into the following groups depending on the cause: peripheral, central and/or of mixed origin. Causes of the peripheral form of these disorders are largely due to the impaired patency of the upper and/or lower respiratory tract. Therefore, early diagnosis and location of these disorders can be considered reversible and not a cause of complications. Slow, gradually increasing obstruction of the upper respiratory tract (URT) is not noticeable and becomes a slow killer. Hypoxic individuals in a large percentage of cases have a shorter life expectancy and, above all, deal with the consequences of hypoxia much sooner.
Keywords
