To begin your doctor will send a referral to our clinic and we will set up an appointment by contacting you. 

 

Prior to your appointment, it is requested that all inhalers are withheld. The specific time frame for each inhaler to be withheld can be found at the PDF below. 

 

When you arrive for your appointment you will enter our pulmonary function lab and meet our Registered Respiratory Therapist. They will take some measurements and instruct you to take a seat and begin the test.

You will be instructed to perform breathing exercises into a filtered mouthpiece which is connected to our measuring device. There are many components to a pulmonary function test. Learn about the test components below:

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• Spirometry: This is a forced exhaled breathing test to detect for obstruction that would be suggestive of asthma or COPD.

• Plethysmography: This measures lung capacity to assess for restriction (pulmonary fibrosis or restriction from outside the lungs) and gas trapping (a finding occasionally seen in chronic asthma or COPD).

• Airway resistance: This measures resistance throughout the bronchial air tubes.

• Lung diffusion capacity: This measures how well oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange across the lungs and blood circulation. 

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The exact components of your breathing test will be determined by your referring doctor and the Registered Respiratory Therapist guiding you through your test. 

A full test takes an average of 35 to 50 minutes. Once completed we will have a Respirologist interpret the results. The turn-around time to have your results sent back to your doctor is 2-4 days.  

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