Figure 2.

Changes in patients’ vital signs during induced sputum collection.

(a) One hour after sputum induction, the blood oxygen saturation levels (SpO₂) of all the patients were all ≥93% (one patient’s SpO₂ was 93% and one patient’s SpO₂ was 94%; the remaining patients had SpO₂ ≥ 95%). Twenty-four hours after sputum induction, the SpO₂ of all the patients were all ≥95%. (b) At the pre-sputum induction, 1 h post sputum induction, and 24 h post sputum induction time points, all patients had respiratory rates of 16–25 breaths per minutes (c) and heart rates of 55–100 bpm (one patient had a heart rate of <60 bpm).