PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tjeu Souren
AU  - Erwin De Bliek
AU  - Johan Roeykens
AU  - Kevin De Soomer
AU  - Ellie Oostveen
TI  - Quality control of cardiopulmonary exercise equipment
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.3786
DP  - 2020 Sep 07
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 3786
VI  - 56
IP  - suppl 64
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/3786.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/3786.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2020 Sep 07; 56
AB  - Introduction: Quality control of cardiopulmonary exercise equipment in daily clinical practice is usually restricted to the manufacturer’s recommendations for calibration and maintenance. It is uncommon to perform an overall check on the accuracy of the measurements of ventilation (V’E), O2 uptake (V’O2) and CO2 production (V’CO2). Metabolic simulators have been developed specifically for this purpose.Aim: To verify the performance of 4 different exercise testing devices from 4 manufacturers employed at different departments in an university hospital setting.Methods: A metabolic simulator (Relitech Systems, Netherlands), delivered stroke volumes of 2 Liters exactly at 4 frequencies (a: 20, b: 40, c: 60, d: 80 strokes/min), with associated values of both V’O2 and V’CO2 of 1, 2, 3 and 4 L/min, respectively. Most common, a 3% measurement error is acceptable.Results: The relative difference between measured and delivered values of V’E, VO2 and V’CO2 of the devices are presented in the table.Discussion and Conclusion: The metabolic simulator clearly identified devices that did not reliably measure V’E, V’O2 and/or V’CO2. We recommend verification with a metabolic simulator to become a routine part of the yearly quality check of exercise equipment.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 3786.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).