Breath-Hold Diving: Mechanisms of Hypoxemia and Decompression Stress
Abstract
This project is an applied research study on humans designed to meet Navy mission requirements.The project will be conducted in Montegrotto Terme- Padova, Italy, over a two-year period at the worlds deepest pool Y40 with a water temperature of 31C. The project has been already approved by the local ethics committee for BHD (Ethical Committee of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova; Aut. No. HEC-DSB/03-18). Insurance covering volunteers and researchers will be granted by the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova.The first step will involve 12 practicing breath-hold divers, and the experiment will be performed as follows. After the placement of an arterial cannula in the radial artery, volunteers will be asked to perform three warm-up dives to depths of 5 mfw (16.40 ffw), 10 mfw (32.80 ffw), and 25 mfw (82.02 ffw), and then a breath-hold dive with fins to a depth of 15 mfw (49.21 ffw). Arterial blood samples will be collected at the following times, during the last dive: i) immediately before the dive;ii) at 15 mfw depth; iii) at the surface, immediately before the break of apnea with the face still submerged. Measurements will include arterial pH, O2 and CO2 partial pressures, lactate, proinflammatory MPs and neutrophil activation, OCN, platelets oxysterols, and MBs. Bubble formation will be assessed through a portable Doppler apparatus before and after the dives.Thoracic ultrasound will be performed before, at depth, and immediately after the dive to detect atelectasis and interstitial pulmonary edema. Continuous measurements of cerebral blood oxygenation, cerebral blood volume, heart rate and SpO2 will be collected via a wearable marinized NIRS device. In the second step of the project we will repeat the experiments as already described in step one, but the athletes will reach the depth of 42 mfw (138 ffw, the bottom of the pool).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 20, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012579
Entities
People
- Gerardo Bosco
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Padua