How the measurement of residual volume developed after Davy (1800)

Abstract

H. Davy measured the residual volume of his own lungs in 1800, by inhaling a hydrogen mixture contained in a mercurial air holder. Using the same principle, Nestor Gréhant determined the functional residual capacity, and the volume of the dead space, in 1864. Both used a forced breathing method, that was substituted by a prolonged dilution method by D.D. Van Slyke and C.A.L. Binger in 1923. It was in 1941 that G.R. Meneely and M.L. Kaltreider replaced hydrogen with helium. The open circuit nitrogen washout method was proposed by R.E. Darling, A. Cournand and D.W. Richards in 1940, and the body plethysmograph by A.B. DuBois et al. in 1956. So the three methods, still in common use today for measuring the static lung volumes, had been described by the mid‐1950s.

Two steps forward in bedside monitoring of lung mechanics: transpulmonary pressure and lung volume

“…Gas-dilution methods for quantifying FRC were developed as early as 1800 using inspired hydrogen [21]. Closer to the present day, helium gas equilibration methods have been used for research in patients.…”

Measurements of functional residual capacity during intensive care treatment: the technical aspects and its possible clinical applications

“…The measurement of FRC dates back to the year 1800, when H. Davy measured the residual volume of his own lungs by inhaling a hydrogen mixture contained in a mercurial air holder 33 . Today, there are generally four methods to estimate FRC: imaging techniques, body plethysmography, dilution with an inert gas (e.g.…”