BMSC12008 - Advanced Respiratory Measurement

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

On completion of this course students should be able to understand and interpret advanced clinical tests of respiratory function including static lung volumes, pulmonary gas exchange, airway resistance, compliance, elastance and inertance, maximal pressures and blood gas measurement. Distance education (FLEX) students will be required to have access to a computer to make frequent use of internet resources to promote development of course learning outcomes.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

BMSC12006 Cardiorespiratory Physiology and Measurement

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 60%
2. Examination 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2013 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 80.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 66.67% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback
Feedback:
 Weekly revision questions and assignment helped learn key concepts

Recommendation:
 Continue

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback:
 Videos to view for procedures discussed

Recommendation:
 Links to videos for procedures to be made available

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the rationale for clinical respiratory diagnostic measurements by describing the underlying physiology.
  2. Relate the mechanics of the respiratory system to measurement of static lung volumes by dilution, washout and plethysmographic methods.
  3. Explain the relationship between ventilation and perfusion of the lung and effects on gas exchange.
  4. Describe the factors important to ensure precision in respiratory gas analysis, pressure and flow measurement
  5. Justify the rationale for specific aspects of best practice guidelines, including calibration, equipment and patient test performance factors.
  6. Defend the appropriate use of lung volume, gas transfer, blood gas, impulse oscillometry and maximal respiratory pressure measurements in clinical practice.
  7. Interpret results of the above tests and describe the underlying pathophysiology of abnormal tests.
  8. Construct quality control charts to monitor laboratory test quality and accuracy.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
2 - Examination • • • • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Examination • • •