| 129-200 | Claudius Galen | Had a boy breathe in and out of a bladder and discovered that the volume of gas did not change. |
| 1661 | Marcello Malpighi | First anatomist to describe pulmonary capillaries, bronchioles and acinii. |
| 1662 | John Boyle | Boyle’s Gas Law published (P1V1 = P2V2) |
| 1662 | Robert Boyle | Published “New experiments, physico-mechanical, touching the spring of the air”. Showed that animals could not live in a vacuum and the anatomical mechanism by which ventilation of the lung occurred. |
| 1667 | Swammerdam | Placed tube in a dog’s trachea, immersed underwater and measured respiration by water displacement. |
| 1669 | Richard Lower | In his textbook, ‘Tractatus de corde’ mentions the lung as the site where the blood changes its color when it comes in contact with air. |
| 1674 | John Mayow | Showed that combustion and respiration altered air in similar ways, and that an animal could not survive in air “injured” by combustion. |
| 1677 | Robert Hooke | Showed it was possible to keep a dog alive by artificial respiration with a bellows. Showed that purpose of the lungs was to expose blood to air. |
| 1681 | Giovanni Alfonso Borelli | Measured the volume of inspiration in one breath by sucking fluid from a cylinder and measuring displaced volume. Blocked off nostrils to make sure no air escaped through his nose. |
| 1708 | Keill | Measured exhaled volume. |
| 1718 | James Jurin | Blew air in a bag, measured volume by water displacement. |
| 1727 | Stephen Hales | Measured vital capacity with a “pneumatic trough over water”. Invented the U-tube manometer. |
| 1738 | Daniel Bernoulli | Published his treatise “Hydrodynamics” which included his observations on what is now known as the Bernoulli Effect. |
| 1740 | Johann N. Lieberkuhn | Measured the changes in the volume of the thorax during breathing. |
| 1754 | Joseph Black | Discovered carbon dioxide (“fixed air”). |
| 1757 | Joseph Black | Showed that respiration produced carbon dioxide. |
| 1772 | Rutherford | Discovered nitrogen. |
| 1772 | Joseph Priestly | Discovered nitrous oxide. |
| 1775 | Joseph Priestly | First publication of his discovery of oxygen. Showed that respiration consumed oxygen and that plants replenished it. Showed that oxygen was responsible for the color of blood. |
| 1777 | Antoine- Laurent Lavoisier | Using an ice-calorimeter, Lavoisier proved that combustion and respiration were one and the same. He also measured the oxygen consumed during respiration and concluded that the amount changes depending on human activities. |
| 1787 | Jacques Charles | Charles’s Gas Law published (V1/T1 = V2/T2). |
| 1788 | Edwin Goodwyn | Sucked water into a ‘pneumatic vessel’ which was then weighed on scales. He stated that the vital capacity could reach as much as 4460 ml. Corrected for temperature, but did not use a nose-clip. |
| 1789 | Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier | Published first description of a gasometer in Traité Élémentaire de Chimie, |
| 1793 | John Abernathy | Showed that exhaled air contained carbon dioxide and a reduced oxygen concentration. |
| 1795 | Charles Kite | Used bladder to measure tidal volume, inspiratory reserve volume and expiratory reserve volume. |
| 1795 | James Watt, Dr. Thomas Beddoes. | Watt built a gasometer based on Lavoisier’s gasometer for Dr. Thomas Beddoes’ Pneumatic Institute. |
| 1796 | Robert Menzies | Measured tidal volume by exhaling into an allantoid, divided total volume by the number of breaths. Used a water plethysmograph (subject submerged in barrel) to verify. Measured lung volume in cadavers. |
| 1799 | William Hasledine Pepys May | Measured tidal volume using gasometers. |
| 1800 | Sir Humphrey Davy | Measured lung capacity, tidal volume. Measured Residual Volume using hydrogen dilution method. Gas was collected in silk bag, measured in a mercury gasometer. |
| 1801 | John Dalton | Dalton’s Law of the Partial Pressures of gases published |
| 1802 | Joseph Gay-Lassac | Gay-Lassac’s Gas Law published (P1/T1 = P2/T2). |
| 1808 | W. Allen, M.H. Pepys | Showed that successive samples of exhaled air contained different concentrations of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. |
| 1813 | Coathupe, Prout | In separate experiments each measured diurnal variations of exhaled CO2. |
| 1813 | Edward Kentish | Developed the Pulmometer which was an inverted bell jar with a water seal. Measured exhaled volume in patients with disease, noted relationship between height and volume. |
| 1828 | Herbst | Measured exhaled volume, noted relationship to height. |
| 1831 | Charles Turner Thachrah | Improved the Pulmometer, using an inverted glass bottle. First to note that women had a smaller inhaled volume. |
| 1836 | Heinrich Gustave Magnus | Used a mercury vacuum pump to show the presence of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide gases in blood. |
| 1841 | Valentin and Brunner | Developed a simple technique for measuring exhaled oxygen and carbon dioxide by chemical absorption. |
| 1843 | Julius Jeffries | Published “Views on the statistics of the human chest” discussing lung volumes. First use of “Tidal Volume” to describe the volume of normal breathing. |
| 1843 | M. Bourgery | Measured exhaled volume, showed relationship between age, gender and BMI using a “hydro-pneumatic” apparatus. |
| 1845 | Karl von Vierodt | Used “Expirator” to measure vital capacity and residual volume. Published “Physiologoes des Athmens besonderer Rucksicht mit der auf die Aushcheidung Kohlensaure” which was a standard texbook for decades afterward. |
| 1846 | John Hutchinson | Developed the water seal counterweighted bell spirometer based on Lavoisier’s gasometer. Measured vital capacity in 2130 people, showed that it was proportional to height, age and gender. Coined the word “spirometer” and was the first to use the term “Vital Capacity” for the maximum amount of air than can be exhaled after a maximum inhalation. |
| 1847 | Karl Ludwig | Invented the kymograph. |
| 1848 | Gustav Simon | Studied relationship of chest circumference to Vital Capacity. |
| 1849 | John Hutchinson | Measured the pressure-volume curves of the lung. |
| 1850 | Phoebus | Developed a non-counter weighted, water seal spirometer. |
| 1850 | Regnualt and Reiset | Simultaneously measured CO2 production and oxygen consumption in small animals. |
| 1850 | Franz Forstmann | Developed a spirometer based on a wet gas meter. |
| 1850 | Marshall Hall | Studied influence of CO2 on respiratory rate. |
| 1850 | J.F.H. Albers | Published “The diagnoses of the disease of the thoracic organs by means of physical signs, or Auscultation, Percussion and Spirometry” in Bonn, Germany which became a standard textbook for decades. |
| 1853 | Donders | Demonstrated the elastic recoil of the lung. |
| 1853 | Fabius | Showed relationship between vital capacity and the height of the thorax. |
| 1854 | Karl August Wintrich | Developed a modified Hutchinson spirometer. Studied Vital Capacity in 3500 people and confirmed relationship between height, age, weight and gender. |
| 1854 | M. Boudin | Developed a rubber bulb spirometer. A rod with a scale was attached to top of the bulb and moved upwards as bulb inflated. |
| 1854 | Voorhelm Schneevogel (Schneevogt?) | Showed that women have a smaller vital capacity than men for the same height. Also showed VC was lower in kyphoscoliosis. |
| 1855 | Adolf Fick | Published Fick’s Laws of Diffusion. |
| 1855 | F. Arnold | Published a monograph on Vital Capacity in health and disease. Showed relationship between height, gender, age, chest expansion and life habits. |
| 1856 | M B Schnepf | Developed a modified Hutchinson spirometer where the chain weight varied with bell height. Published vital capacity values for male and female children aged 8 to 19 |
| 1856 | Bonnet | Developed a spirometer based on a gas meter called a pneumatometer. |
| 1856 | Coxeter | Developed a spirometer consisting of two connected bags; a larger bag for collecting exhaled air and a smaller calibrated bag for measuring the vital capacity. |
| 1856 | J Guillet | Developed a turbine spirometer he called the “pneusimeter”. |
| 1856 | Pereira | Developed a spirometer similar to Hutchinson’s with a glass bell. |
| 1857 | Fernet | Showed that the amount of oxygen in blood was greater than if it was a simple solution. |
| 1857 | Gustave-Adolph Hirn | First simultaneous measurement of respiration and heat production during exercise with humans in a closed chamber. |
| 1857 | Lothar Meyer | Showed that nitrogen was in simple solution in the blood. |
| 1857 | Claude Bernard | Showed that CO causes hypoxia by binding with hemoglobin. |
| 1857 | F. Hoppe | Showed that blood changes color when exposed to CO. |
| 1859 | Edward Smith | Measured CO2 production with a gas meter by measuring change in weight of potassium hydroxide. Attached a kymograph to a spirometer to record changes in volume over time. |
| 1859 | S. Weir Mitchell | Developed a portable spirometer based on a dry gas meter. |
| 1860 | N. Grehant | Measured FRC using Davy’s method of hydrogen dilution. |
| 1860 | Augustus Eckert | Developed a non counter-weighted water seal spirometer with a guide rod and a float in the bell. |
| 1862 | Max Von Pettenkofer | Built a respiration chamber and measured carbon dioxide production in humans under different conditions. |
| 1863 | W.E. Bowman | Published the description and instructions for constructing a simple water-seal spirometer that were widely circulated. |
| 1864 | Stokes | First absorption spectra of blood observed. |
| 1864 | Nester Grehant | Measured the FRC and dead space volume by a rebreathing hydrogen dilution method. |
| 1865 | Aaron P. Barnes | Invented a dry spirometer which consisted of a rubberized-cloth bag inside a tin canister which pushed a scale rod upwards. |
| 1865 | Robert Mann Lownes | Developed a portable spirometer based on a small fan or turbine. |
| 1866 | William Thomas Salter | Added kymograph to spirometer to measure change in volume over time. |
| 1868 | J. Marechal | Developed a turbine spirometer which measured inspiration, expiration and time. |
| 1868 | G.W. Brown | Patented and sold a water-seal spirometer with a rectangular, non-counter weighted bell. |
| 1868 | E. Pfluger | Suggested that hypoxia stimulates ventilation. |
| 1869 | Guyet | Developed a curved tube spirometer based on a propellor/turbine. |
| 1869 | Leon Bergeon & M. Kastus | Devised spirometer with a recording pen, the “anapnograph”. Measured flows as well as volume. Used a nasal mask as well as a mouth piece. |
| 1870 | Adolf Fick | Published principle for measuring cardiac output from VO2, CaO2 and CvO2. |
| 1871 | C. Speck | Used a pair of gasometers to measure inspired and expired volume. Measured oxygen and CO2 concentration of expired air. |
| 1872 | Paul Broca | Developed a bellows spirometer. |
| 1872? | Galante | Developed a counter-weighted bellows spirometer with a dial readout. |
| 1875 | L. Waldenburg | Published the theory of treating pulmonary diseases with compressed or rarified air. Modified a Hutchinson spirometer for this purpose. |
| 1875 | Paul Bert | Wrote “La Pression Barometrique” where he showed the relationship between altitude, the partial pressure of oxygen and hypoxia. |
| 1876? | Marey | Developed the pneumograph which directly measured the movement of the thorax during breathing. |
| 1878 | Paul Bert | Showed relationship between partial pressure of oxygen in blood and oxygen content. |
| 1879 | J. Gad | Invented the “aeroplethysmograph”. First version of what is now called a Krogh spirometer. Included a kymograph. |
| 1879 | Regnard | Collected exhaled air in a 200 liter rubber bag. Analayzed samples of exhaled air. |
| 1880 | A. Rattray | Developed a water-seal non-counter weighted spirometer with a square bell. |
| 1880 | J.P. Marsh | Invented Marsh’s Pocket Spirometer, which consisted of a rubber balloon with an attached tape measure. |
| 1881 | Burq | Developed the pulsator-gymnoinhalteur which measured exhaled pressure. |
| 1882 | Eduard Pfluger | Developed the pneumonometer (respiratory pressure manometer). Described basic principles of plethysmograph. |
| 1883 | George Bellange | Developed a turbine spirometer. |
| 1883 | C. Speck | Developed first ergometer (hand cranked) |
| 1885 | F. Miescher-Rusch | Determined that ventilation is regulated by arterial CO2. |
| 1885 | W. A. Shepard | Developed water-sealed spirometer, non-counter weighted, volume was read from rod attached to bell. |
| 1886 | H Grehant & C E Quinquaud | First practical measurement of cardiac output in dogs using the Fick equation. |
| 1889 | Zuntz and Schumburg | Developed the first treadmill. |
| 1889 | BA Gould | First to note racial differences in FVC published in study of spirometry with Civil War soldiers. |
| 1890 | Stanley | Developed a gas meter/turbine style spirometer |
| 1891 | Verdin | Developed a spirometer based on a commercial gas meter. |
| 1891 | Hanriot and Richet | Developed a system for continuously measuring respiratory quotient using three gas meters and different gas absorbants. |
| 1891 | Bohr | Measured dead space for carbon dioxide in humans. |
| 1892 | John Haldane | Published instructions on preparing granular soda lime to to enable it to absorb exhaled carbon dioxide. |
| 1892 | Denison | Developed a bellows spirometer. |
| 1894 | Hoppe and Seyler | First closed-circuit measurement of O2 consumption in humans by the volume decrease in a closed-circuit respiration chamber with a CO2 absorbant. |
| 1894 | William Ramsay, Lord Rayleigh | Discovered Argon. |
| 1895 | William Ramsay | First isolation of Helium. |
| 1897 | Elisee Bouny | Developed the first bicycle ergometer. |
| 1898 | J B Haldane | First accurate measurement of O2 and CO2 content of blood. |
| 1898 | William Ramsay, Morris Travers | Discovered Neon, Krypton, Xenon. |
| 1902 | P. Robin | Developed the first dry bellows wedge spirometer. |
| 1904 | Jules Tissot | Developed the first closed circuit spirometer, a large water-seal spirometers for gas collection. Also developed one-way valves. |
| 1910 | F G Benedict | Developed a closed-circuit respiration apparatus for measuring CO2 production and oxygen consumption. |
| 1911 | C G Douglas | Developed the Douglas bag for collecting exhaled air. |
| 1915 | Marie Krogh | First diffusing capacity measurements with carbon monoxide which became the basis of the single-breath diffusing capacity test. |
| 1916 | Eugene F. Du Bois | Developed the formula for body surface area (BSA). |
| 1917 | Peabody & Wentworth | First published standards for a normal vital capacity. |
| 1918 | Anthony Barker | Developed the Simplex spirometer. |
| 1919 | Dryer | First use of regression equations rather than tables to predict normal vital capacity. |
| 1920 | Warren E. Collins | Warren E. Collins Scientific Instruments started manufacturing spirometers. |
| 1921 | F. B. Sanborn | Sanborn Scientific Instruments started manufacturing spirometers. |
| 1923 | Van Slyke & Binger | First measurement of FRC by H2 dilution (rebreathing technique) |
| 1924 | Van Slyke & Neill | Developed the manometric technique for measuring O2 and CO2 in blood. |
| 1925 | Alfred Fleisch | Developed first flow measuring Pneumotachograph. |
| 1927 | Neergard & Wirz | First demonstration of flow-interruption technique to measure airway resistance |
| 1928 | Barcroft, Henderson | First determination of hemoglobin’s oxygen disscociation curve. |
| 1929 | Hugo Wilhelm Knipping | Published first standardized method for spiroergometry. |
| 1932 | R V Christie | First open-circuit Nitrogen washout lung volume measurement. |
| 1933 | J. Hermannsen | First description of MVV test. |
| 1934 | Alvan L. Barach | First therapeutic use of Helium-Oxygen mixture. |
| 1935 | Karl Mathes | Developed first two-wavelength ear oximeter using red and green filters. |
| 1938 | Alvan L. Barach | First documentation of spirometry response to bronchodilator. |
| 1938 | K F Luft | Developed first infrared CO2 analyzer. |
| 1939 | McMichael | First use of katharometer (to measure H2) for closed-circuit FRC measurement, recommended breathing period of 4-6 minutes. |
| 1941 | G R Meneely & N L Kaltreider | First helium dilution closed-circuit lung volume measurment. |
| 1942 | Glenn Millikan | Independently developed the ear oximeter. Used in altitude research during WWII. |
| 1946 | Beckman Company | Beckman paramagnetic oxygen analyzer developed. |
| 1947 | Pers Scholander | Developed technique for accurate analysis of small (0.5 cc) gas samples. |
| 1947 | Marc Tiffeneau | First description of FEV1 aka “capacité pulmonary utilisable à l’effort” (CPUE). |
| 1948 | J C Lilly & J P Hervey | Developed real-time (<5 msec) N2 analyzer. |
| 1948 | Ward Fowler | Developed single breath technique for measuring anatomical dead space. |
| 1949 | Dargatz Co. | Developed first continuous exercise metabolic measurement system. Was capable of measuring VO2 up to 3.0 LPM. |
| 1951 | Edward Gaensler | Timed vital capacity, first description of FEV1/FVC ratio. |
| 1954 | Severinghaus | Developed glass pH electrode subsequently used in ABG analysis. |
| 1954 | Leland C. Clark | Developed the oxygen electrode subsequently used in ABG analyzers. |
| 1954 | G F Filley et al. | First steady-state diffusing capacity test. |
| 1956 | A B Dubois et al | Full body plethsymographic TGV measurements. |
| 1956 | A B Dubois et al | First plethysmographic airway resistance measurements. |
| 1956 | A B Dubois et al | First description of oscillometry. |
| 1957 | C M Ogilvie et al | Standardized Single-breath DLCO test described. |
| 1957 | Roughton, Forster | First description and measurement of DMCO and Vc. |
| 1957 | Severinghaus | Developed PCO2 electrode used in ABG analysis. |
| 1958 | R E Hyatt, D P Schilder, D J Fry | First description of the Maximal Expiratory Flow-Volume Loop. |
| 1958 | K.T. Fowler | Developed the respiratory mass spectrometer. |
| 1959 | B M Wright and C B McKerrow | Developed first hand-held peak flow meter. |
| 1959 | Dr. William Stead, Dr. Herbert Wells | Developed the Stead-Wells spirometer. Water sealed, non-counterweighted with a direct-writing ultra-lightweight bell. |
| 1959 | Lewis, Lin, Noe, Hayford-Welsing | First rebreathing DLCO test. |
| 1960 | Jere Mead, J H Emerson | Developed the first volume displacement plethysmograph. |
| 1963 | D P Schilder | First to note changes in flow-volume loop while breathing helium-oxygen mixture. |
| 1968 | AB Fisher, AB Dubois, RW Hyde | First demonstration of the forced oscillation technique for measuring airway resistance |
| 1969 | Anthonisen et al | First description of Closing Volume measurement using resident gas (N2). |
| 1970 | Bartschi, Haab & Held | Developed PCO2 electrode for blood gas analysis |
| 1972 | Depas et al | First use of helium-oxygen mixture with flow-volume loop. |
| 1972 | Takuo Aoyagi | Developed first pulse oximeter which was manufactured and sold by Nihon Koden. |
| 1975 | ITS | Intermountain Thoracic Society publishes first manual for standardized Pulmonary Function testing. |
| 1979 | ATS | First published standards for spirometers and spirometry based on the Snowbird Workshop recommendations. |
| 1983 | Borland, Chamberlain, Higenbottam | First measurement of DLNO. |
| 1986 | Beaver, Wasserman, Whipp | Developed V-Slope technique for determining Anaerobic threshold. |
| 1987 | Guenard, Varene, Vaida | First simultaneous measurement of DLCO and DLNO. |
PFT History by Richard Johnston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.