Breathe liquid ???

[FallenMatt]

Alan "Hippy" Carnes: What is all this stuff?
Ensign Monk: Fluid breathing system, we just got it. You use it when you go really deep.
Alan "Hippy" Carnes: How deep?
Ensign Monk: Deep.
Alan "Hippy" Carnes: HOW deep?
Ensign Monk: That's classified.

yeah, i was a tad bored this morning and started looking thought internet movie database

So i have two questions:
1. Somehow I think that in most of the recent movies out there, be it underwater or sci-fi in general when they wear full face mask they also have this "in-mask light" that illuminates their faces. I saw it on few shots of abyss (in the trailer) but that wasnt' that obvious there (besides the divers being lighted up like a christmass tree). But the more recent movies have that "glow".

is that used anywhere in real world or is it just a hollywood gimmick ? i would think the light inside the mask would be really distracting...

2. Is fluid breathing used anywhere, is it a viable technology ? The way i see it you basically replace gas (nitrogen, hellium, whatever else) with liquid... so you wouldn't get tissue saturation ? since there is no gas besides oxygen to pass to the body ?
i would still think things like oxygen toxicity and the fact that oxygen does have narcotic effect at high pressures... that it would be another gimmick ...


please, enlighten me

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear FallenMatt:

Liquid or Fluid Breathing :scuba:

This has been covered in the Ask Dr Deco forum. Give a check on the FORUM for some info.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[SARmedic]

As far as the facial illumination, its for the movie. Same as when you see people driving in cars and there is lots of light coming from under the dash, it's so you can see the actors.

 

[wreckchick]

MANY years ago I saw a picture in National Geographic or something like that of a mouse in a jar of oxygenated liquid. The little dude seemed to be doing fine other than being confused about being in a jar. I don't know how much this has progressed since then, but it freaked me right out at the time.

Rachel

 

[Barracuda2]

I could be wrong, but wasn't the scene in "The Abyss" where they stuck the white pet rat into the liquid and he lived real? I thought I read some place that this scene was the real thing.

Barracuda2

 

[Waterborne]

2. Is fluid breathing used anywhere, is it a viable technology ? The way i see it you basically replace gas (nitrogen, hellium, whatever else) with liquid... so you wouldn't get tissue saturation ? since there is no gas besides oxygen to pass to the body ?
i would still think things like oxygen toxicity and the fact that oxygen does have narcotic effect at high pressures... that it would be another gimmick ...

One of the major problems associated with a liquid breathing system is the amount of effort needed to effectively "breathe" the fluid. Compare the weight of the amount of gas to liquid used in the normal respiratory cycle. Even most healthy individuals would not be able to move that fluid in and out for very long. But yeah, check out the medical forum as I think we discussed this awhile ago.

 

[roakey]

Here's a commercial application for the fluid:

http://www.allp.com/LiquiVent/lv.htm

Roak

 

[The Chairman]

Way cool link! :tease:

 

[FallenMatt]

Now i see my lack of research

looked on scubaboard and found some references, IMDB also gives some info:

the rat scene: it was in the movie, i saw it, they actually shoot it with few mice/rats/whatever they were and all survived. The one that is in the movie died (due to unrelated reasons) few weeks before movie release.

it appears that some animal society in Great Britain complained to movie rating organization and the scene got cut out in "director's cut" release. (maybe it was only in british version ? i've never seen the director's cut)
---

the lights in the face:
yeah i understand the concept for the movie making but i ment actual visible lights mounted inside the mask or on top of the mask that iluminate the face. I know bunch of sci-fi movies that use that, also bunch of "normal" movies has them in chemical protection suits....

I was wondering if that kind of internal lights are actually used anywhere ?

---
the fluorocarbons are used for liquid ventilation but although they are work really nicelly to deliver the air they are very poor at taking the CO2 from the body. The work of ventilation required to move the liquid is too much to be feasible. The medical use usually fills lungs to 1/6, 1/3 of the volume leaving gas/liquid membrane that makes CO2 transfer much more feasible (and it works in medical use)

unfortunatelly for diving leaving gas in lungs defeats the purpose.

the only other way to make it work is to actually surigically connect the divers blood system to artifical gills.... but that means major surgery every time he/she would get out of the water to breath air.

hey, i've learned bunch of stuff in an hour

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Readers:

The fluid-breathing mouse was an actual, no tricks scene and was filmed in a hyperbaric chamber especially for the film.

Dr Deco :doctor: