What causes exercise limitation in patients with COPD?

Cardiopulmonary Exercice Testing

Nick Hopkinson and his team have been addressing the influence of genetic polymorphisms, corticosteroid therapy and the role of acute exacerbations in skeletal muscle impairment in COPD.

Techniques employed include invasive measurement of respiratory pressures, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and the use of magnetic nerve stimulation to obtain non-volitional measures of muscle function. His work has been funded by The Wellcome Trust, The European Union, The British Lung Foundation and The Moulton Foundation.

Magnetic nerve stimulation

Within Imperial College he is involved in research with The Centre for Pervasive Sensing to develop more sophisticated integrated physiology and activity sensors to monitor patients in their home environment.
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pervasivesensing/
projects/copd