physiologic dead space

Noun

• The volume of the conducting airways of the lung. This definition became inadequate once the alveolar dead space was described.
• That volume of air in the lung which does not partake in gas exchange.
• That volume of air in the lung that does not eliminate carbon dioxide, as defined functionally by the Bohr equation.
• The sum of the anatomic plus the alveolar dead spaces.
• The sum of the parallel and the serial dead spaces.