This volume, the second in a series on topics in microcomputers in critical care and pulmonary physiology,' contains the proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Computers in Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine, held at the University of Lund in 1980 under the.,chairmanship of Prof. B. Jonson, M.D., Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Lund, Sweden. Clinicians and biomedical engineers from many countries parti­ cipated in a three day deliberation. Of special interest was the introduction of nuclear techniques in pulmonary medicine for the first time in this symposium series. It is the intention of the steering committee that such meetings should take place on an annual basis in the rapidly changing world of the science and technology of computing in clinical care, in prac­ tice and in pulmonary medicine. Editorial modification of the papers in this volume has been kept to a minimum. Changes have been made to ensure some uniformity in presentation and there has been some alteration of the English to avoid ambiguity, but our intervention has gone no further than that. It is hoped that the contents of this volume will enable those who are interested in the subject matter to be more aware of research developments occurring in so many different disciplines and so many different centres in America and Europe. Finally, I would like to thank Miss Bodil Richardson for her or­ ganisational and secretarial help. Thanks are also due to Prof. J.P.