447 



Some of the research which will be carried out in these facilities includes 

 studies of: the limits of oxygen concentration which cause pulmonary injury; 

 the control of respiration ; and the maximum pressures which can be tolerated 

 by man and andimals. Other studiees will be included on the effects of high 

 pressure oxygen on patients with peripheral vascular disease, the cerebral 

 circulation, and the physiology of oxygen exchange in skeletal muscle. 



The National Heart Institute has contributed about $475,000 toward this 

 new facility, and through FY 1967 about $335,000 toward the support of the 

 research program conducted with the use of existing facilities. 



Dr. Lambertsen has also received support for design and construction of these 

 facilities from a Health Research Facilities grant in the amount of $207,225. 



3. HENNEPIN COUNTY GENEKAL HOSPITAL, MINNESOTA 



The facility at the Hennepin County General Hospital (formerly Minneapolis 

 General Hospital) consists of a spherical operating room 19 feet in diameter 

 to which are attached two cylindrical pressure chambers. Two attached mechani- 

 cal rooms house the necessary ancillary components. Engineering was begun in 

 July 1962, and the facility was completed in October 1966. 



The types of research and treatment for which the hyperbaric chamber is 

 being utilized include studies involving high pressure oxygen on adjunct cir- 

 •culatory systems, pulmonary embolism, renal artery occlusion, kidney trans- 

 plantation, and changes in brainwaves under normal and high pressure oxygen 

 in animals and investigation of the possible enhancement of anti-cancer agents 

 and treatment of patients with gangrene. The National Heart Institute provided 

 $337,525 for the chamber; a Health Research Facilities grant provided $72,707 

 for space. 



4. children's hospital medical eeseaech foundation, boston, mass. 



The facility in Boston consists of a vertical 16 foot diameter cylindrical surgical 

 chamber capable of developing five atmospheres absolute pressure, connected by 

 locks to two horizontal cylinders 8 feet in diameter. One of these serves as a 

 treatment chamber which can provide pressure ranging from 100 mm negative to 

 five atmospheres positive, and the other is a recompression chamber and lock 

 which can reach seven atmospheres in each component. These chambers, which 

 replaced one 35 year old chamber, were completed in November 1965 and have 

 been utilized for better clinical and experimental work since that date. Some of 

 the kinds of studies which were in progress or projected at the time of completion 

 of the new chambers were treatment of infants seriously ill with congenitally 

 malformed hearts (some of whom received corrective surgery under high oxygen 

 pressure), experimental treatment of newborn infants with respiratory distress 

 syndrome, maintenance of viable transplant kidneys, the effects of high pressure 

 ■oxygen on brain tissue, lung tissue and mesenteric circulation, and the manage- 

 ment of diseases due to anaerobic organisms such as gangerene. Work projected 

 for the future includes possible treatment for cerebral hypoxia due to heart 

 failure and for carbon monoxide poisoning as well as studies of the effect of high 

 pressure oxygen on tissue radiation. NHI supplied $339,334 which covered costs of 

 the chamber and certain major items of equipment. 



5. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 



A grant was awarded to the University of Maryland in 1964 for the con- 

 struction of a surgical shock research facility. The total award was $787,500. 

 Included in the grant were 50 percent matching funds for the construction of an 

 •oxygen high pressure chamber. The chamber constructed is essentially cylindrical 

 in shape and divided into three sections. The surgical area has a diameter of 12 

 feet 6 inches, and the therapeutic and air-lock chambers have diameters of 10 feet 

 6 inches. The chamber is 68 feet 6 inches long, with a pressure capacity of 100 psi. 

 It is air conditioned with controls permitting temperatures from 60 to 80 degrees 

 Fahrenheit and relative humidity of 40 to 80 percent. Closed circuit TV is 

 included. The total cost of the chamber was $298,750. 



The fundamental theme of the proposed research is the study of shock at the 

 cellular level in the human. The objectives are (a) elucidation of the biochemical 

 and physiological alterations in shock, (6) development of therapeutic regimen, 

 and (c) development of preventive measures. With regard to the chamber, it is 



