The havocs of coronavirus have made reliable and accurate spirometry more necessary than ever to carefully follow-up recovered COVID-19 patients.
The growing demand for pulmonary function testing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has lead many physicians to consider renewing their spirometers or acquiring more units. And even doctors who previously did not offer this test are deciding to get spirometers to provide better care to their patients from the first appointment.
Whatever your reasons for buying equipment, here are some practical tips to help you make the best decision.
Tips to buy a good spirometer
- Don't make the decision based upon price. Make an investment, not an expense. The lower the cost of the equipment, the lower the performance and accuracy it will provide, what is the point of using something that will force you to repeat the test several times? The time you will waste repeating the test and using disposable mouthpieces and filters will eventually raise the low initial cost considerably. Simply put, cheap costs dearly.
- What kind of patients do you attend? If besides adults you attend seniors, and children, you need a device that will make it easier for you to perform the test on all of them. Children and the elderly must be taken particularly into account because, due to their age, they may not be able to seal tight their lips around the mouthpiece. So, it is convenient that the mouthpiece of the spirometer adapts comfortably to their mouth.
- Make sure that it offers you various measurement programs. The ATS (American Thoracic Society) requires that at least the three best attempts should be printed, in addition to the FV and VT curves; not all devices have this capability. Besides, the device must also provide the values FEV1, FVC (or FEV6), FEV1 / FVC, FET (Forced Expiratory Time) and the number of attempts. If it can also calculate the variance between FEV1 and FVC, much better.
- Choose a device that complies the standards. This will make your job much easier to determine the validity of the test; decide on a spirometer that is OSHA/ATS/ERS compliant.
- Prefer spirometers that are calibration-free. This type of device will save you time because it will always be ready to work on demand. Have we mentioned that this will also save you a lot of time?
- Choose a safe device for you and your patients. With the COVID-19 pandemic, hygiene is more important than ever, so it is convenient to acquire a spirometer that is cross-contamination free. Also, consider whether the operation of the equipment allows you to maintain a safe distance from the patient.
- Customer service is very important. Make sure that the company selling the device has a good pre-sales service: Do they solve all your doubts? Do they offer you free training to use the device? Do they offer free demos to see the spirometer in action? Post-sales service is also another important point: does the company provide disposable filters and mouthpieces? Do software updates have extra cost? Do they provide maintenance and spare parts?
As you may have already noticed, it is a question of acquiring a spirometer of good quality. Not only will it benefit your patients by offering them reliable and accurate tests, but in the long run the investment will be worth it because you will be able to use the device for many years to come.
SpiroScout, ultrasonic spirometry
SpiroScout, ultrasonic spirometry
SpiroScout, ultrasonic spirometry
In Schiller, we have SpiroScout an ultrasonic spirometer that covers the points mentioned above. One of its big strengths in times of pandemic is that it avoids cross-contamination because:
- It uses our unique ScoutTube mouthpiece, which isolates the patient's exhalation and avoids contact with the device´s sensors.
- The device can also use a high-efficiency PFT filter, which is a must nowadays.
- The health care professional can perform the test while maintaining the distance recommended by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
To learn more about SpiroScout, download this sheet.
