Services

Our office has a full on-site Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) suite to perform breathing tests which measure lung volume, diffusing capacity, airflow rates, and gas exchange.  This testing is non-invasive and aids in the diagnosis of many different lung disorders such as Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Emphysema, Pulmonary Fibrosis and Sarcoidosis. 

For patients diagnosed with respiratory illnesses or pulmonary diseases, Dr. Jason Shatkin prescribes customized treatment plans specific to each individual patient.  Some of these include many oral medications and respiratory inhalers, Nebulizer treatments, Portable and At-Home Oxygen therapy and Percussion Vest therapy – an inflatable vest attached to a machine which is used for chest physical therapy, vibrating the chest wall to loosen, thin and remove mucus.

Our office performs the following respiratory tests:

SPIROMETRY

• A portion of the full PFT which focuses mainly on measuring airflow and lung volumes. 
• Tests the parameters for lung capacity (the maximum amount of air that can be inhaled and exhaled), Forced Vital Capacity or FVC (total amount of air exhaled with maximum effort), Forced expiratory volume in 1 second or FEV1 (the amount of air exhaled in the first second of a forced breath), FEV1/FVC ratio and Expiratory flow rates (the speed at which air is exhaled at different lung volumes) 

FLOW VOLUME LOOP

• A portion of the full PFT which measures how much airflow a is produced when breathing relative to a patient’s lung volume, during a forced inhalation/exhalation.
• Test will show if the airflow is adequate for the patient’s lung volume, it will indicate if there is presence of an airway obstruction and it can help track clinical changes in known pulmonary disease.

PULMONARY FUNCTION TEST (PFT)

• Broader range of testing which gives a comprehensive and more in depth assessment of lung function. 
• Includes all Spirometry test measurements as well as additional: Lung volume (how much air you can inhale and exhale at different levels and how much air remains in your lungs after exhaling), and Diffusion capacity (how well your lungs move air into your blood and how well your lungs transfer gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide) 

FENO TEST

• A fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) test which measures the amount of nitric oxide in your breath by blowing into the device. High levels of nitric oxide can indicate inflamed airways caused by an underlying condition. This test aids in the diagnosis and progression tracking of asthma, environmental allergies and COPD.

6 MINUTE WALK (6MWT)

• The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is an assessment that determines a person’s exercise tolerance by measuring how far a patient can walk in 6 minutes at their pace while heart rate and oxygen levels are monitored. This helps determine functional ability in patients with certain respiratory conditions and monitor the effectiveness of treatment plans and whether they are improving the patient’s condition.