Kent Fukuzura, Making Science Simple
It’s fun building gadgets and other toys, but here’s a project that not only looks cool, but will also revitalize your body, and help if you have a diving accident! Using materials found around the house we’ll construct a Hyberbaric Chamber, a hermetically sealed container for delivering oxygen-enhanced air to your lungs and body.
The science:
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by force-feeding pure oxygen to the bloodstream, body tissues and cells. By increasing the atmospheric pressure and oxygen intake, oxygen is transferred to the red blood cells faster and more effectively. Hyberbaric chambers were developed to help divers with the bends The pressure in the chamber neutralizes the nitrogen bubbling into their blood, and keeps them from keeling over.
Now these chambers are also used to cure bruised tissues and other hard-to-heal wounds, like big-named sports franchises are using for their star players, but they can also be used to pump your head full of oxygen, making you stronger, fitter and smarter.
What you’ll need:
You’ll need a cot or air-mattress to lie on, a whole bunch of tubing for supplying air, a bunch of clamps and rubber seals, valves and pressure-monitoring devices, and a big tube of some sort.
The big tube is going the be the hardest item to get. You need something strong enough to withstand the extra atmospheric pressure you’ll be subjecting it to, and big enough to hold you, your cot, and a TV. You may have to improvise by welding together several thousand canned pasta tins. The smaller you make your chamber, the more portable it will be. House doors are usually less than three feet wide, so if you plan on taking it to a LAN, you’ll have to make sure it’s narrower than that.
A good idea is to put in a window or two of clear plexiglass (the thick stuff). Your chamber will seem less claustrophic if you can look out of it.
Next, attach several oxygen tanks from father’s welding workshop with appropriate fittings and valves. Don’t mix up the acetylene and oxygene tanks or you’ll be in for a rude surprise when you test out the chamber.
Inside the chamber install some gauges to let you know what the pressure is, and electrical lighting so you can read. Don’t use candles. It’s pure oxygen, remember.
Make sure you put the clamps on the inside of your chamber so you can get in and out when you want to, and not when your dorky little brother decides to let you out.
With a hyperbaric chamber of your very own you’ll be all set to increase your white blood cells’ defense to infection, reduce toxic substances from your blood-stream, and repair damaged tissue. Mother will be proud!
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