Cardiopulmonary Lab

Assignment #7
Chelsea Hawryluk Biology 112 Section 535

Abstract The cardiopulmonary system of the human body controls not only the flow of blood to all the organs and extremities of the body but also ensures that the blood is oxygenated. There are several ways that we can measure the cardiopulmonary system and how efficiently it works; we measured respiratory rate, mean arterial pressure, and pulse rate in class. In our experiments we measured the pulse, heart rate, and how many breathes were taken during a minute for four males and four females. We took resting measurements as a benchmark and then had the subjects exercise for two minutes, then we took measurements immediately after the workout, one minute after the workout, and two minutes after the workout. At the end of the experiment the data concluded that the males had a higher respiratory rate before and after the workout, a lower mean arterial pressure before and after the workout, and a lower pulse rate before the workout. We were also able to measure electrical activity of the heart for a student in the class to illustrate what the parts of the waves look like. Introduction In order to see the effects of exercise on the cardiopulmonary system we had to measure respiratory rate, mean arterial pressure, and pulse. I hypothesized that pulse rate, respiratory rate, and MAP would increase immediately after the exercise and that it would take the females longer to recover than the males in the class. Pulse was measured with the use of an automatic sphygmomanometer, we put the cuff on the subject and the machine showed us how many beats the subjects heart went per minute, then it was recorded on chart 11-8. The sphygmomanometer also

gave us the diastolic and systolic blood pressure; using these we were able to calculate the mean arterial pressure for the subject. The respiratory rate was calculated by the subject counting their breathes for fifteen seconds while another student watched the time, then we multiplied the number of breathes taken by 4 to get breathes per minute. The electrical activity of a student in the class was measured with a BioAmp computer component that graphed a cardiogram that showed the peaks and waves of heart electrical activity. The vital volume was measured using a spirometer and software that graphed the volume of my breath. Methods The automatic sphygmomanometer measured the subjects pulse and blood pressure on its on with only minimal prompting from the group. When we used the spirometer I breathed regularly for a minute, the change in volume from the bottom of a peak to the top of a peak represented my tidal volume. Then took as big of a breathe as I could, then we measured the change in volume from my normal peaks to the top of that last peak and that was my inspiratory reserve volume. Again I breathed regularly then I exhaled all of my air to figure out my expiratory reserve volume. The electrocardiogram was created by the computer software pre- loaded on the computers, we placed the negative electrode to the right wrist, the positive to the left, and the grounded electrode to our subjects ankle. The program then recorded and plotted a electrocardiogram for our subjects heartbeat. The equation used to calculate the mean arterial pressure was found in our lab manual and is

Results Respiration rates: From Table 11-8 we can see that males had a much higher rate of respiration than the females did, both at the rest time and immediately after a two minute workout. However females rates of

respiration increased more after exercise than males did. Our female, female 1, had the largest increase in number of breathes per minute after exercise with the net change being an increase of twenty breathes in a minute. On average the males in the class were able to recover back to their original respiratory rate half a minute faster than the females were able to, our female had the longest recovery time of both males and females.

Blood Pressure: The males in our class had lower average values than the females did when we calculated out the mean arterial pressure. The recovery time for the blood pressure was also lower for the males than females, our female had the highest MAP during the rest period and the second lowest MAP immediately following the workout. Her net change was actually negative with her MAP falling after the workout.

Pulse rate: Here we see that the males have the lower average pulse rates for both the rest period and the workout period, our female had the highest pulse rate for both time periods, but her net change in pulse rate was also the

highest. On average the males were able to return to their original pulse rate faster than the females in our class were able to. The males on average had a bigger net increase in their pulse rate than the females did.

Electrical activity: In our class each group only received a graph plotting the electrical activity for one individual, so I cant report on the differences between male and female heart activities. The electrocardiogram shows that the heart rate of the subject to be highly elevated, the waves are very close together so it is difficult to distinguish where the waves begin and end. The T wave is higher than the QRS complex, and the intervals for the waves are shorter than those on Table 11-4 of the lab manual, which may mean that the subject has a heart condition.

Spirometer readings: The data shows that our groups subject had a slightly subpar vital capacity than the average of twenty year olds for her height group. The distance between the bottom of a wave the top of a normal breath wave was .803 liters which was our tidal volume, the distance from the top of the normal wave to the top of the wave for an extended inhale was 1.106 liters meaning that our subjects inspiratory volume was just over a liter. The bottom of the wave of a normal wave to the bottom of the wave of an extended exhale was .910 liters. We added all of these volumes together in order to calculate the vital capacity of our subject, which turned out to be 3. 819 liters.

Discussion The objective of this activity was to see how exercise affected the cardiopulmonary system and to see whether it affected the systems of males and females differently. My group tested this objective by checking our hypothesis H: Measures quantities will increase immediately after two minutes of exercise and males will be able to recover faster than females will. The data for female number four did not come from our class, so the averages for the females is off from what the real class averages would be had we been able to measure the changes in another girl from our class. I also believe that the blood pressure machine was malfunctioning and the readings for our class were incorrect; this affects not only our data for pulse rate but also for the mean arterial pressure. The negative change in mean arterial pressure for female number one may be incorrect which would make sense because exercise makes your heart work more and therefore your blood pressure should increase as you exercise, not decrease. My hypothesis was correct, the values for all of the measured quantities increased after the subject exercised and the males averages for recovery time were lower than the females in every trial. This may be due to the fact that the males in the class were in better shape than the females, or maybe the females were more stressed out about having their vitals checked in front of other people and so their pulse and blood pressure reflected that. The electrocardiogram data is not from my class period, I was unable to retrieve our data and subsequently this data is from Section 524. The data represented does not reflect the electrocardiogram from our section. The subject of the electrocardiogram was very anxious about having the test

run on her despite her eagerness to participate, her hearts electrical activity shows that in the reduced intervals between the peaks. Literature Cited Harris-Haller, T. 2012. Laboratory Manual for Biology 112, 7th ed. Chapter 11, Hayden-McNeil Publishing. Figures and Tables
120

Table 11-8
100

80

60

Female Male

40

20

0 Respiratory Rate RR After Exercise Mean MAP After Arterial Rate Exercise Pulse Rate PR After Exercise

Table 11-3
66 Me 66 Avg.

Tidal Volume .803 liters

Inspiratory Reserve Volume 1.106 liters

Expiratory Reserve Volume 1.910 liters

Vital Capacity 3.819 liters 3.822 liters