6 replies to this topic

[duganalexzander]

Hi, so I'm new here, some of you know me but most of you don't.

The short and skinny is that i'm double majoring in physics and ecology. I'm also an avid diver (who would have thought?).

Anyway, I was reading an article online about flying after diving, and how a lot of the theory seems to be educated guesswork as opposed to hard numbers. Wouldn't it be great if we could nail those numbers down better?

Whats this have to do with me you ask? Well... my university has a large undergraduate research budget, and and we have a hospital.

So i'm thinking about doing research on decompression, with the goal of making tables and algorithms more accurate, as well as finding ways to safely decrease that evil "no fly time" after a week of diving.

...and now the catch.

I'm new to decompression theory. My scientific background should support my learning it, but I'm not sure where to start. This means that I need your help. Yes you, the one reading this right now, chances are you know something I don't. I'd love it if you shared it. If there's a book you found helpful, let me know. If there's articles on the internet (preferably scholarly) i'd love them too. If you know a big-wig in the deco field, and they're open to me asking questions, I'd love to get in contact with them.

I'm planning to begin this with my departmental advisor to see who to talk to on campus, but I'd like to go to him with a project to stand on.

[shadragon]

Suggest you go to the DAN web site and start there. They will choke you with information, stats and studies.

Remember, it is theory. Even after more than a half century people still do not fully understand the process. So you are choosing a challenging cause.

[WreckWench]

Well that will certainly get you MORE than started. No fly times have been reduced from 24 hours to 18 hrs or as little as 12 hours in many cases. So there may not be must more room so to speak to shorten this timeframe.

If you need more assistance we are VERY tight with DAN and can help you speak to specific individuals after you have come up to speed on the material readily available on the subject.

There are other areas that perhaps have not been as well researched that you could look into...namely the effect of dehydration on the body and decompression theory or lack of sleep or water temperature. The latter has had more research done but probably still less than the no fly rule. Altitude that a diver encounters when driving over hills or from FL to home could also be interesting and still may not have been delved into as much as flying.

[Scubatooth]

Will

As others have said, i would recommend you contact the research department(Dr Petar Denoble) at DAN or the Medics on the Hotline (Dan Nord or Marty McCaferty. They would be the go to people when it comes to Deco Theory they would be a very good reference. I will say this alot of the Flying after Diving data some of it is theory, but there have been numerous chamber studies that have been done at Duke on this subject. Dukes multi chamber complex can take a subject from 1000 MSW(3300 feet)to a altitude of 50,000 Feet, and they have even been known to make it snow in the chamber (I kid you not).

Depending on what your looking for I might be able to help you, with copies of notes and other materials i have from my DAN internship in 2007.

Dan

Edited by Scubatooth, 31 March 2011 - 08:10 PM.

[duganalexzander]

Guys, Thanks. You're all being amazing.

I'll start looking through things this weekend (Last exam was today, paper due tomorrow, and a lab experiment after that).

@ Scubatooth: Thanks for the extra info, I didn't know about that. Thanks for the offer of materials as well. It may not be till the fall, or it may be a year or so, but i'd love to have copies of any materials you've got.

[WreckWench]

You are welcome Will!

We just aim to please!