Laboratory Evaluation of the CReSSmicro™ Portable Topography Device: Implications for Clinical Research

Performance of the CReSSmicro™ v.2.0.0 portable smoking topography device was evaluated in a controlled laboratory environment using a calibrated smoking machine to generate known, reproducible smoking topographies. Device performance was evaluated using unlit and lit cigarettes over a range of puff volumes (25 to 100 mL) at 2 s puff duration using a sine wave profile. The device missed 93% and 100% of the 25 mL/2 s puffs for unlit and lit cigarettes, respectively. The device underreported puff durations for the entire volume range, i.e., from 40 mL (0.9 ± 0.17 s) to 100 mL (1.6 ± 0.11 s) for both unlit and lit cigarettes. Puff volumes were under reported for lower volumes from 40 mL (25.6 ± 5.5 mL) to 70 mL (68.8 ± 3.7 mL) for both unlit and lit cigarettes and slightly over reported for higher volumes from 85 mL (89.4 ± 7.6 mL) to 100 mL (103.4 ± 9.8 mL) for lit cigarettes. Experimental results indicated that a 12.5-20mL/s (750-1,200 mL/min) flow threshold for puff recognition was responsible for the observed results. This study reinforces the importance of fully understanding device performance prior to performing clinical studies of human smoking topography. [Beitr. Tabakforsch. Int. 26 (2014) 19-25]