Bill I read somewhere, some time [sorry for the appalling reference], that the O2 carrying capacity of plasma starts at a PO2 of around 1.3. So, at 6m, 80% is only delivering a PO2 of around 1.28, whereas O2 is around 1.6 - making a considerably greater difference to deco effectiveness than would at first appear to be the case. IIRC, the plasma O2 capacity was around 15% of that carried by haemoglobin. Now, the Buhlmann algorithm does not take into account such physical mechanisms and so such a benefit will not be demonstrated by detailed analysis of tables. In fact, whilst I have learnt from some of the detailed recent posts on this subject, I feel that many are placing too much emphasis on the Buhlmann algorithm. Of course, I base my deco on the output of this algorithm but modify it considerably. David Shimell shimell@se*.co* <mailto:shimell@se*.co*> DDI: 01932 814096 * Mobile: 07770 282 202 * Fax: 01932 814343 Project Manager, IBM UK Web Server Group, Sequent Computer Systems Ltd, Weybridge Business Park, Addlestone Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT15 2UF, UK registered in England and Wales under company number: 1999363, registered office as above -----Original Message----- From: Bill Wolk [SMTP:BillWolk@ea*.ne*] Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 5:44 AM To: ScottBonis@ao*.co*; swhac@pc*.gu*.ne*; Techdiver Subject: Re: Oxygen window & 80/20 Deco On 8/29/00 1:29 AM, ScottBonis@ao*.co* wrote: >Let me try to ask my question in a slightly different way. If I weren't >worried about oxygen toxicity (this is just a fictious example here), then I >get the impression that the theory is that deco'ing on 100% O2 at 30 feet or >forty feet would be more efficient at offgassing nitrogen than deco'ing on >100% O2 at 20 feet. Is this correct, or am I all screwed up again? Scott - The short answer is yes, you're absolutely correct. The textbook definition of an "oxygen window" is "the difference between total gas pressures in arterial and venous blood; exists because oxygen is partly metabolized by the tissues, so venous oxygen pressure is lower than arterial oxygen pressure." But we use the term a little differently when we talk about decompression. We essentially use "oxygen window" to represent the difference between the concentration of inert gas dissolved in tissue vs. the concentration of oxygen and inert gas in arterial blood. If you'll excuse a bit of an oversimplication, I think I can make the concept (and deco) a whole lot clearer: Remember the concept of osmosis from biology? If you have a high concentration of a substance on one side of a cell membrane and a low concentration on the other, the substance will cross the membrane until the concentration on both sides is equal. The more of the substance on one side and the less on the other, the higher the osmotic pressure -- literally the force that the substance on the high concentration side exerts as it tries to push through the membrane. And usually, the higher the osmotic pressure, the faster the substance moves towards equalization. Like lots of people pushing through a turnstyle. This is the key. In deco, you have tissues that are oversaturated (highly concentrated) with inert gas -- on one side of the cell membranes. If you breathe 100% oxygen, your arterial blood carries large amounts of O2 in both hemoglobin and plasma. When it reaches the saturated tissues at the capillary level (where arterial blood gives off its oxygen and thereby becomes venous blood), the high osmotic pressure (lots of inert gas in the tissue and none in the blood) forces the N2 and He from your tissue in the bloodstream --> decompression. At the same time the high osmotic pressure on the other side (lots of 02 in the blood, less in the tissue) forces O2 into the surrounding tissue, which has the effect of oxygenating tissue and reducing swelling and clotting -- essentially, healing the cellular damage caused by deco diving. The more oxygen in your blood, the larger the osmotic pressure differential or "window" forcing inert gas out of the surrounding tissue and therefore the more efficient (and faster) the deco. Now, at this point it sounds like F02 and not P02 is what matters since hemoglobin only binds a set number of 02 molecules, but here's another key: higher pressures force more oxygen to dissolve in plasma where it's carried without hemoglobin. So the higher the P02, the more oxygen is carried over all in the blood and therefore the greater the oxygen window where gas is exchanged at the tissue level. Now you can easily see why 80/20 is a poor choice of deco gas compared with 100% 02 -- 80/20 reduces the oxygen window because the blood is not only carrying dissolved oxygen, it's also carrying nitrogren -- so there's lower osmotic pressure and therefore less inert gas moving from tissue to blood (and therefore slower, less efficient deco) and there's also less oxygen moving from blood to tissue (resulting in more residual cellular damage). It's less efficient all around. In putting this post together, I ran across a couple of websites that are worth bookmarking [Cobber -- add these to your links page]: http://www.oxytank.com/quanda.htm is a terrific resource on hyperbaric oxygen therapy and physiology that clears up a lot of concepts and misconceptions about O2 and deco. The other link is a hyperbaric medicine glossary -- http://www.gulftel.com/~scubadoc/glssry.html -- which is where I found the definition of oxygen window. Best - Bill Wolk On8/29/00 1:29 AM, ScottBonis@ao*.co* wrote: >And finally my basic question, the one I tried clumsily to ask previously, >remains exactly what is the relationship between this level of dissolved >oxygen in blood plasma (if that's what the "window" is), or the PP(O2) in >the >deco gas that gives rise to it (if that's what the "window" is), and the >rate >of off gassing of nitrogen. I'm just having a lot of difficulty following >the concept. > Best regards -- Bill -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]