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MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Spirometry is a test of how well your lungs are working, by measuring how fast and how much air you can breathe in and out. Normally as you breathe in, or inhale, air moves freely through your trachea, or windpipe, then through large tubes called bronchi, smaller tubes called the bronchioles, and finally into tiny sacs called alveoli. Small blood vessels, called capillaries, surround your alveoli. Oxygen from the air you breathe passes into your capillaries. Then carbon dioxide from your body passes out of your capillaries into an alveolus. You get rid of the carbon dioxide when you breathe out, or exhale. Diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, and pulmonary fibrosis narrow your bronchioles, reducing the amount of air going into your lungs. And diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema damage your alveoli, reducing the amount of oxygen in your blood. These diseases can make it hard for you to breathe. Your doctor may recommend a spirometry test to identify a disease in your lungs, check the severity of your existing lung disease, or to determine if the medications you take are helping. During the test, your caregiver will use a device called a spirometer. A spirometer is a machine that measures the air you breathe out. Before you take the spectrometry test, you will sit in a comfortable chair with your feet flat on the floor. If you have dentures, you may be asked to remove them. For best results, you will be advised to follow your caregiver's instructions exactly. To start, you will raise your head and chin so that you can breathe easily. Next, you will place a clip on your nose to prevent air from coming out of your nostrils. Then, you'll take a deep breath, filling your lungs completely with air, and hold it. You will place the spirometer's mouthpiece between your teeth and tightly seal your lips surround it. Finally, you will blast the air out of your lungs as hard and as fast as you can, continuing to breathe out until your caregiver tells you to stop. If you are an adult, you will blow for at least six seconds. Children 10 years old and under will blow for three seconds. You will need to perform the spirometry test correctly three times to get accurate results.
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million dollar verdict last Friday."
Joseph M. Prodor Trial Lawyer White Rock, British Columbia
"I have a medical illustration created by Medical Legal Art at the beginning
of every case to tell the client's story, usually before I depose the
defendant doctor. The work product and cost-efficiency are outstanding. It
is a situation where, as a trial lawyer, I don't leave home without it."
Rockne Onstad
Attorney at Law
Austin, TX
"Thank you for the wonderful illustrations. The case resulted in a defense verdict last Friday. I know [our medical expert witness] presented some challenges for you and I appreciate how you were able to work with him."
Robert F. Donnelly
Goodman Allen & Filetti, PLLC
Richmond, VA
"It is my experience that it's much more effective to show a jury what
happened than simply to tell a jury what happened. In this day and age where
people are used to getting information visually, through television and
other visual media, I would be at a disadvantage using only words.
I teach a Litigation Process class at the University of Baltimore Law Schooland use [Medical Legal Art's] animation in my class. Students always saythat they never really understood what happened to [to my client] until theysaw the animation.
Animations are powerful communication tools that should be used wheneverpossible to persuade juries."
Andrew G. Slutkin Snyder Slutkin & Kopec Baltimore, MD
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.
