Respiratory minute volume

Respiratory minute volume (or minute ventilation, or flow of gas) is the volume of air which can be inhaled (inhaled minute volume) or exhaled (exhaled minute volume) from a person's lungs in one minute. This is normally registered when a person has a ventilator supporting the person's breathing due to a sickness or injury.

Additional recommended knowledge

Weighing the right way

How to quickly check pipettes?

Daily Sensitivity Test

Minute volume is calculated by taking the tidal volume and multiplying the respiratory rate (the number of breaths per minute a person is taking). The higher the minute volume the more carbon dioxide (CO2) the person is releasing, the converse is the lower the minute volume the lower the amount of carbon dioxide the person is releasing. For example a person who is hyperventilating would have an increased minute volume.

A normal minute volume would be 5-8 liters per minute.

The symbol used to represent minute volume is $\dot{V}$ or MV.

"Alveolar ventilation" is a closely related quantity, consisting of the respiratory rate multiplied by the dead space subtracted from the tidal volume.

v • d • e Respiratory system, physiology: respiratory physiology
Volumes	lung volumes - vital capacity - functional residual capacity - respiratory minute volume - closing capacity - dead space - spirometry - body plethysmography - peak flow meter - thoracic independent volume - bronchial challenge test
Airways	ventilation (V) (positive pressure) - breath (inhalation, exhalation) -respiratory rate - respirometer - pulmonary surfactant - compliance - hysteresivity - airway resistance
Blood	pulmonary circulation - perfusion (Q) - hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction - pulmonary shunt
Interactions	ventilation/perfusion ratio (V/Q) and scan - zones of the lung - gas exchange - pulmonary gas pressures - alveolar gas equation - hemoglobin - oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve (2,3-DPG, Bohr effect, Haldane effect) - carbonic anhydrase (chloride shift) - oxyhemoglobin - respiratory quotient - arterial blood gas - diffusion capacity - Dlco
Control of respiration	pons (pneumotaxic center, apneustic center) - medulla (dorsal respiratory group, ventral respiratory group) - chemoreceptors (central, peripheral) - pulmonary stretch receptors (Hering-Breuer reflex)
Insufficiency	high altitude - oxygen toxicity - hypoxia