ArticleFolia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP)2026
Accuracy of Balloons and Handheld Spirometers as Low-Cost Tools for Measuring Vital Capacity and Air Volume: A Laboratory-Based Validation Study.
Article in Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Development and Initial Validation of Phonation Quotient for Connected Speech: A Low-Cost, Indirect Aerodynamic Measure of Phonatory Airflow.Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) · 2026Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
introductionVital capacity and air volume are key physiological substrates important for voice, speech, cough, and swallowing. The current gold standard equipment to assess vital capacity and air volume is a pneumotachograph. The aim of this study was to characterize the validity of four low-cost, clinically accessible tools as potential alternative methods to accurately assess vital capacity and air volume.
methodsThis laboratory-based study examined the accuracy of four low-cost tools to assess vital capacity and air volume: two balloon-based circumference methods (<USD 1), one analogue spirometer (∼USD 100), and one consumer-grade digital spirometer (∼USD 150). In experiment 1, known volumes of air (ground truth) were injected into each low-cost tool using a 3-L calibration syringe. In experiment 2, the same tools were tested against gold standard pneumotachography equipment. Agreement was assessed using descriptive statistics, Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (ρ
resultsAll four tools showed substantial agreement with the ground truth and gold standard measurements. Median absolute differences ranged from 0.07 to 0.29 L across tools. The digital spirometer demonstrated the highest agreement, with ρ
conclusionThe findings support the use of balloon-based circumference techniques, analogue spirometry, and digital spirometry as low-cost alternatives for measuring vital capacity. Each tool demonstrated predictable error patterns that could be corrected to yield highly accurate estimates. These results may expand access to vital capacity measurement in outpatient, home health, and resource-limited settings.
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