Fluid Breathing Device

[TexasMike]

Dearest Doctor Deco...

I recently purchased a DVD copy of The Abyss. This copy has some expanded info on the "technology" of the movie, including the "Deep Suit" that used a fluid breathing technology.

Since the movie was produced in 1989, I was wondering if there has been any advances in this that you have heard of.

 

[roakey]

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

For a commercial product, albeit not for diving use.

Roak

 

[Green_Manelishi]

From what I have read in the past one of the biggest obstacles
is the amount of physical labor needed to breathe the liquid.
So much energy is expended in the simple act of *breathing*
that no (or a piddling amount) of useful work can be accomplished. Placental development not-with-standing (?) our
lungs are designed to inhale and exhale gas, not liquid. Hence
one of the difficulties with "deep air" (besides narcosis) ...
the air becomes more and more difficult to breathe as it becomes
'thicker' under pressure.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

The USN did conduct several studies on liquid breathing. Some type of oxygenated liquid. Results that I have read basicaly stated bad bad and bad. Issues arose about gas exchange rates (think it was HIGH co/co2 levels) and purging the lungs of liquid with out infections setting up. My source on this is the big annual hyperbaric medicine book I was reading during college. Some rather interesting reading to say the least.

There was another study looking for some type of membrane for the body that could do the osmosis/diffusion thing, kinda like gills.

Finding much more info on this matter will be very difficult as alot of the results was classified and not released by our goverment. I'll leave the conclusions for a workable system up to those conspiracy theory people.

Ed

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Texas Mike:

This topic has reoccurred on this FORUM. It certainly is a fascinating concept but one that seem to be more practical for medical treatment than for active divers. Since water breathers such as fish bring fluid in through their lungs and expel it through their gills, there is not a problem with a reversal of direction of a fluid with a high density. In contrast, air can have it direction reversed in the lungs since it is of low density. The interchange of air and liquid is a problem with air breathers. (Likewise, it is a problem with gill breathers since their gills collapse upon each other a gas exchange is poor when they are removed from water.)

If fluid exchange could be improved by some type of lung assist device (possibly similar to an “iron lung” of earlier decades), and the diver was not too active (perhaps being towed by a Diver Propulsion Vehicle), then we might see some practical device. This might help combat the problem of carbon dioxide buildup in the blood from poor ventilation.

Exchange of diver’s breathing gas with the sea water through a membrane would be possible although the surface area would need to be large if you wished to collect all of your needed oxygen at the time you were swimming. Mammals are warm-blooded and require considerable more oxygen that cold blood creatures such as fish. Their oxygen requirements are really quite small.

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[large_diver]

BTW, regardless of whetheryou love the movie, this is an interesting DVD. I found the "Making of the Abyss" documentary " (about 1 hour, I think) fascinating. Lots of diving and discussion of the abandoned power plant cooling tower they turned into an underwater studio.

 

[TexasMike]

LD;

I found it very interesting too, since I'm now looking at that movie through a diver's viewpoint. I thought the way the entire production was put together very fascinating, especially in that age where computer graphics was in its infancy

And I may have other diving questions

Now I want to build one of those underwater air recharging stations!

 

[Ontario Diver]

Can Canadians use Beer?

 

[Liquid]

Liquid breathing-

-about the liquid exchange problem:

Actualy, after the lungs were filled with liquid, you don't need to exchange the lquid inside, you must keep the lungs at a static situation. The liquid must have a rapid sorce of oxigen, that will keep the amount of dissolved oxigen in the liquid above a certain point. There must also be a device for rapid removal of CO2. This way the levels of CO2 and O2 dissolved in the liquid will be about the same most of the time and the lungs will "rapid breath", instead of breathing in cycles. This makes the density of the water imaterial for this purpose. There are, however many other things in the way, starting with the fact that you must keep the liquid INSIDE the lung at those points, and it is hard to measure it insde there, spasms and many other things. All in all, I dont really belive such a device can be made in the near future, some time must past before it is possible.

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Liquid:

I believe that it necessary for the fluid inside the lungs to go in and out. Where it not for this flow, there would be little gas exchange in the alveoli.

Dr Deco