Gas bubbles in the circulation of divers after ascending excursions from 300 to 250 msw.

The occurrence of intravascular bubbles in arteries and veins has been studied using pulsed Doppler ultrasound in six subjects who performed two ascending excursions each from 300 to 250 meters of seawater (msw) during a heliox saturation dive. Following decompression, high-intensity reflections could be observed not only in the venous system but also in the arteries, most notably in the carotid artery. Intravascular bubbles were more numerous during the first ascent than during the second. The arterial bubbles most probably come from the venous side of the circulation, indicating that the pulmonary filter is not as effective as previously thought during saturation diving.

Bubble dissolution physics and the treatment of decompression sickness.

The treatment of decompression sickness often involves both recompressing the victim and administering hyperbaric oxygen in the hope of more rapidly dissolving the bubbles which cause this malady. Although many hundreds of such treatments are conducted each year in the United States alone, the underlying physical principles governing the dissolution of such bubbles are not well understood and only empirically tested. In this paper, we present a mathematical theory of bubble dissolution that is verified by comparison with laboratory experiments. This theory suggests that the commonly employed treatment techniques would be only marginally effective, and that in many situations the bubbles that cause the disease cannot be adequately dissolved using existing techniques and facilities.

Stabilization of gas cavitation nuclei by surface-active compounds.

Gas bubbles are the primary agent in producing the pathogenic effects of decompression sickness. Numerous experiments indicate that bubbles originate in water, and probably also in man, as pre-existing gas nuclei. This is surprising considering that gas phases larger than 1 micron should rise to the surface of a standing liquid, whereas smaller ones should dissolve rapidly due to surface tension. Several stabilizing mechanisms have been suggested, and each has been refuted on experimental grounds. In this article, we propose a new model that arises out of a systematic study of the earlier theories. We review these theories and conclude that gas cavitation nuclei must be held intact by surface-active skins that are initially permeable. The first quantitative analysis of bubble formation data from supersaturated gelatin is summarized and leads to the further conclusion that skins can become impermeable if the ambient pressure is increased rapidly by a sufficient amount. Our model owes much to Sirotyuk, who "demonstrated experimentally that stabilization of gas bubbles acting as cavitation nuclei in water is always attributable to the presence of surface-active substances in the water".

Isobaric bubble growth: a consequence of altering atmospheric gas.

During certain treatments of decompression sickness following dives made with compressed air, the U.S. Navy advocates breathing helium-oxygen mixtures. However, stable nitrogen bubbles created within gelatin by decompression have been found to enlarge when the atmosphere was switched from nitrogen to helium without changing ambient pressure. This suggests that decompression sickness would be worsened by switching from nitrogen to helium in the breathing gas mixture.