A medical device used to measure the volume of air a person can inhale and exhale, as well as the speed of their breath.

""
—

The [open heart surgery] I had meant opening my chest, stopping my heart and lung function and grafting new a arterial vessel to enable cardiac bypass surgery. This, with the insult to my body, meant that for several days the cardiac team at the hospital were both monitoring my lung capacity and function, as well as beginning a regimen of rebuilding my respiratory health. To that end, I have been supplied with an "incentive spirometer", a device that both measures my lung capacity and encourages good, deep breathing.

The mechanism i have consists of a tube connected to a piston inside a cylinder. I am required to inhale to keep a marker in a particular position. The piston shows the extent of my lung capacity, with the idea that over time I will be able to expand the [alveoli] to normal. Using the device takes some effort, by exhaling as much as possible before inhaling. I've started to track my progress; although at present I've been hovering around 1500 ml I'm confident that further exercise will expand and extend my lung capacity.

Devices of this naure are used by those who've undergone surgery that might interfere with respiratory function, particularly surgery to the lungs, but also to patients recovering from cardiac or other surgery involving extended time under anesthesia and prolonged in-bed recovery. Several hours of surgery and days of bed rest have compromised my lung function, and it's recommended that I use it daily in order to avoid the possibility of contracting [pneumonia].

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incentive_spirometer\Wikipedia article]

[[IRON NODER XVII: ALL'S FERROUS IN LOVE AND NODING|Iron Noder 2024 #9]

$ [xclip] -o | [wc[by dorward]] -w
272

Spirometer (thing)