Photograph courtesy of James Sullivan, BA, RPFT, Supervisor, Pulmonary Laboratories, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was taken in 1984.

His description: “This system did both ssDLCO and sbDLCO.  It has an N2 analyzer, but this wasn’t working when I started in the lab; we used He equilibration for FRC measurement.  It used a teletype for data input and output (those things put out a lot of heat…), a Data General computer, complete with the front-panel DIP switches, and a HP X-Y recorder. ….. It was a good system to learn on, because while it was “computerized”, you could still write down He readings and perform your own calculations.  The spirometry software (all programs were loaded into the computer through the teletype via a perforated paper tape; loading took about 45 min) was pretty limited, and there were many times I could get more accurate measurements by calculating the tracings off of the kymograph.”

“…the second spirometer bell (on the right) was used for the inspired sbDLCO gas.  The bell on the left was the primary spirometer, where spirometry, He equilibration and the volume measurements for both DLCO tests were done.”