Elastic work in a pressure-volume model 2026-11-05
Elastic work in a pressure-volume model is the work required to move along the reversible elastic pressure response as volume changes. With added volume measured from an equilibrium state and recoil pressure measured relative to that state,It is the area under the elastic pressure versus volume curve, not the final pressure multiplied by the final added volume. Constant respiratory-system elastance gives and .
Nonlinearity matters even when the final pressure agrees. In an original SI example letAt , the linear and cubic terms contribute 400 and 100 Pa, respectively. Integrating givesA straight line from the origin to the same endpoint would instead give 0.125 J. Equal endpoint pressure and volume do not specify the entire loading work.
The local respiratory-system elastance is , whereas the endpoint secant is . The integral uses the whole elastic curve. A constant baseline pressure would add to boundary work computed from the absolute driving pressure; that term is absent from the baseline-relative elastic energy defined here.
Actual inflation and deflation can follow different paths. In a passive cyclic model, the enclosed hysteresis area represents net mechanical energy dissipated per cycle rather than reversible energy stored at one endpoint. Resistive pressure and muscle activity must therefore be distinguished from elastic recoil. The primary pulmonary-function chapter explains why static and dynamic lung compliance use different measurement conditions.[ref]
Pulmonary Function Testing by Warren M. Gold and Laura L. Koth. Lung Elasticity, Static and Dynamic Compliance: pressure-volume measurements and zero-flow conditions
The constructed curve above illustrates integration; it is not an observed patient curve. Respiratory-system compliance 2026-11-05
Respiratory-system compliance is the change in volume per change in elastic pressure across the passive lung and chest wall together. For a local static relation,Lung compliance alone instead uses transpulmonary pressure, . The whole-system and lung-only quantities are different even when they refer to the same volume change.
At that shared volume, the elastic pressure increments add. With component compliances and ,The reciprocals are component stiffnesses; respiratory-system elastance is . For positive component compliances, the combined value is smaller than either component. OpenStax describes opposing lung and wall recoil and their pressure references.[ref]
Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts and others. §22.3, pleural pressure and thoracic wall compliance
An original example uses and . The combined compliance is about 0.0667 in the same units. An added 0.50 L requires 2.5 cm water of lung elastic pressure and 5 cm water of wall pressure, totaling 7.5 cm water. Attributing that total entirely to the lung would underestimate lung-only compliance threefold.
In a passive ventilated-breath measurement, a zero-flow plateau airway pressure can be compared with the appropriately measured end-expiratory pressure. Under the stated equilibrium and no-effort assumptions, an interval estimate isFor stipulated L, and cm water, this is again about 0.0667. The baseline must account for the relevant positive end-expiratory pressure; a pressure measured during nonzero flow also contains a resistive contribution. The primary pilot study explicitly compares pressure-based respiratory-system estimates under passive ventilation.[ref]
Static and Dynamic Measurements of Compliance and Driving Pressure: A Pilot Study by Pierre Tawfik and others. Introduction, Methods A–D; Study Procedures
State whether the number is a local slope or an interval ratio, which pressure references were used, and whether muscle activity and flow were excluded. Separating lung and wall contributions requires internal pressure information beyond the whole-system volume response.