Analyses of breath-by-breath responses of ventilation to CO 2  employing V-PCO 2  loops.
Computer techniques were employed to construct a respiratory control model in which the variables treated were programmed according to a series of mathematical equations, with the purpose of eliciting the relationship of V-PCO2 (minute ventilation-partial pressure of carbon dioxide) on a transient time basis. It was discovered that the transient V-PCO2 relationship has the shape of a loop half of which is for on-CO2 and the other half for off-CO2. Breath-by-breath ventilation was calculated by means of a home-made computer and the V-PCO2 relationship was monitored on an XY plotter. The transient V-PCO2 course also showed a loop which was quite similar in the general shape to the one traced employing theoretical analysis with an analog computer. This V-PCO2 loop may have potential usefulness to reveal mechanisms of respiratory control which may not be shown by the conventional V-PCO2 response curves.
D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood*; D003201:Computers; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D010313:Partial Pressure; D010507:Periodicity; D012119:Respiration
D002245:Carbon Dioxide