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Biomedical subjects

J S Ultman

Publications and source records attributed to J S Ultman.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Analysis of error in the determination of respiratory gas exchange at varying FIO2.

On-line gas exchange monitors have been based on the measurement of both inspired and expired flows (method A) or on the measurement of expired flow only (method B). In both methods, the cancellation of systematic errors is appreciable if calibration errors in the inspiration variables are matched with calibration errors in the corresponding expiration variables. The determination of oxygen consumption (VO2) results in a considerable amplification of random measurement error, which becomes larger as the inspired oxygen fraction (FIO2) is made larger. For example, when in method A all gas compositions and flows are in error by +/- 0.01, the computed value of VO2 will be in error by +/- 0.16 when FIO2 = 0.21 and by +/- 0.40 if FIO2 = 0.50. When air is breathed, method B creates smaller errors than method A, but as FIO2 is increased the error in method B increases sharply and eventually overtakes that of method A. Even at high FIO2 values, the random error in VO2 may be reduced to an acceptable value by estimating it from a sequence of 100 measurement samples requiring a minimum of 5 min to acquire. There is no error amplification in the computation of carbon dioxide production.

Carbon Dioxide↗

Longitudinal mixing in pulmonary airways: comparison of inspiration and expiration.

The increase in dispersion of an inert tracer bolus of helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was used as a direct and noninvasive measure of longitudinal mixing in the conducting airways. Over a 0- to 260-ml range of bolus penetration, a change in the inspiratory flow from 0.35 to 1.2 l/s did not affect the dispersion of He and SF6, this implies that pure convective dispersion is the dominant inspiratory mixing process. The same change in expiratory flow caused a significant increase in SF6 dispersion only; this indicates that Taylor dispersion is important during expiration. In experiments performed at a fixed penetration of 160 ml and with SF6 only, the inspiratory and the expiratory flows were independently varied from 0.18 to 5.4 l/s. Though the bolus dispersion exhibited a mildly negative correlation with inspiratory flow, it was linearly correlated with expiratory flow. From the former result we conclude that although inspiratory mixing occurs primarily by convective dispersion, there is also a small degree of turbulent dispersion. The latter result confirms that expiratory mixing is primarily due to Taylor dispersion.

Helium↗

Longitudinal mixing in pulmonary airways--normal subjects respiring at a constant flow.

We have measured the impulse response of helium and sulfur hexafluoride in the airways of five normal human subjects at a respiratory flow of 400 ml/s. The longitudinal mixing of the inert gases was characterized by the increased volume variance of the expired concentration response. This parameter was measured over the largest possible range of airway penetrations, 30-290 ml. Employing a symmetrical model of the airway geometry, we have computed the values of a mean mixing coefficient from the volume variance data. This mixing coefficient is largest in the large airways and decreases rapidly with increasing penetration; it may be as much as 4,000 times greater than the molecular diffusivity; and it is relatively independent of the inert gas tested, at least up to an airway penetration of 180 ml. These observations are consistent with several preivously proposed mixing mechanisms including axial streaming, turbulent dispersion, and mixing by geometric asymmetry. However, the latter observation appears to rule out the importance of laminar dispersion since mixing by this mechanism is inversely dependent on the molecular diffusivity.

Humans↗

A portable inhalation system for personal exposure to ozone.

A low-cost portable inhalation system was developed for exposing an individual subject to 60-600 parts per billion of ozone in a 30-l clear-plastic head dome. The inhalation system had the following novel features: a canister vacuum cleaner that supplied room air without the need for precleaning or humidification; a 7% oxygen-in-nitrogen feed to a commercial ultraviolet ozonator that avoided an excess production of ozone; a compact inline mixer that assured homogeneous mixing of the 200-300 liters per minute room air supply with the 0.5-1.0 liters per minute of ozonated gas flow, positioning of gas inlet and exhaust hoses on the head dome that provided fresh gas delivery in the vicinity of the mouth; a quick-disconnect neck seal that allowed rapid donning of the head dome by the subject, and mounting of most system components on a small mobile cart. Temperature, humidity, and ozone and carbon dioxide concentrations were measured inside the dome while a subject exercised on a bicycle ergometer. An air flow of 200 liters per minute between rest and light exercise created a suitable microenvironment in the dome. During moderate and heavy exercise, however, a higher flow of 300 liters per minute should be used to suppress the build-up of carbon dioxide and humidity.

Adult↗

Longitudinal distribution of ozone absorption in the lung: effect of continuous inhalation exposure.

The effect of continuous exposure to ozone on the absorption of ozone in the conducting airways of human lungs was investigated with a bolus-response method. Eleven healthy nonsmoking college students (8 males, 3 females) were exposed at rest for 2 h on 3 separate days to air containing 0 ppm, 0.12 ppm, and 0.36 ppm ozone. A personal inhalation chamber equipped with a head-only clear plastic dome was used for exposure. Every 30 min a subject removed the dome and orally inhaled a series of five ozone-air boluses, each in a separate breath. Penetration of the boluses distal to the lips was targeted in the range of 70-120 ml (corresponding to the central conducting airways). By integrating the inhaled and exhaled-ozone concentration curves, we obtained the absorbed fraction (lambda) and the dispersion (sigma2) of the ozone bolus for each test breath. In addition, the subtraction of baseline measurements made just before exposure enabled us to determine the changes in absorbed fraction (deltalambda) and in dispersion (deltasigma2) that resulted from exposure alone. Absorbed fraction decreased, but sigma2 increased during O3 exposure, and the differences in deltalambda and in deltasigma2 between breathing air and exposure to either 0.12 ppm or 0.36 ppm O3 were significant. We concluded that exposure of the conducting airways to O3 reduced their capacity to absorb O3, possibly by the depletion of biochemical substrates that are normally oxidized by O3.

Administration, Inhalation↗

A respiratory ozone analyzer optimized for high resolution and swift dynamic response during exercise conditions.

The breath-to-breath determination of total respiratory ozone (O3) uptake requires the monitoring of O3 concentration at the airway opening with an instrument that responds rapidly relative to the frequency of respiration. Originally, the authors developed an analyzer that used the homogeneous chemiluminescent reaction of O3 with 2-methyl-2-butene, but it was suitable only for monitoring O3 during quiet breathing and light exercise (Ben-Jebria and Ultman, Rev Sci Instrum 1989; 60:3004-11, and Ben-Jebria et al., Rev Sci Instrum 1990; 61:3435-39). The improvement of performance characteristics of the aforementioned analyzer enabled the authors to use the newly constructed and self-contained instrument, which used ethylene as the reactant gas, for respiratory O3 monitoring during moderate-to-heavy exercise. Operating at a reaction chamber pressure of 350 torr, an ethylene/sample flow ratio of 4:1, and a sampling flow of 0.6 lpm, the authors achieved an optimum analyzer performance (i.e., 10-90% step-response of 70 msec and a minimum resolution of 0.006 ppm O3). Furthermore, the new instrument did not exhibit the nonlinear calibration and the CO2 interference suffered by the original analyzer. To demonstrate the quality of the new O3 analyzer in a respiratory application (i.e., total O3 uptake), the authors measured a series of single breaths on two subjects who breathed 0.11 and 0.43 ppm O3-in-air mixtures for 15 min during rest, and during moderate and heavy exercise.

Breath Tests↗

Longitudinal distribution of ozone absorption in the lung: effects of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone exposures.

Investigators used an ozone bolus inhalation method to study the effects of continuous exposure to ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide on ozone absorption in the conducting airways of human lungs. Healthy, young nonsmokers (6 males, 6 females) were exposed on separate days for 2 h to air containing 0.36 ppm nitrogen dioxide, 0.75 ppm nitrogen dioxide, 0.36 ppm sulfur dioxide, or 0.36 ppm ozone. Every 30 min, the subject interrupted exposure for approximately 5 min, during which he or she orally inhaled five ozone boluses-each in a separate breath. Investigators targeted penetration of the boluses distal to the lips in the 70-130-ml range, which corresponded to the lower conducting airways. The authors computed the change in absorption resulting from exposure (delta lambda) by comparing the amount of each ozone bolus that was absorbed with a corresponding value obtained prior to exposure. Results indicated that ozone exposure caused delta lambda to decrease relative to air exposure (p < .01), whereas both nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide exposures caused an increase in delta lambda that was not significantly different from air exposure. This resulted, at least in part, to an artifact caused by preexposure to ozone boluses. The authors concluded that exposure of the lower conducting airways to nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide increased their capacity to absorb ozone because more of the biochemical substrates that are normally oxidized by ozone were made available. During continuous ozone exposure, this excess of substrate is depleted and the absorption of ozone boluses decreases.

Absorption↗

Small intrapulmonary artery lung prototypes: design, construction, and in vitro water testing.

Blind-ended, hollow fibers mounted on a pulmonary artery catheter may allow O2 and CO2 transfer in the vena cava, right ventricle, and pulmonary artery. The effects of fiber length, manifold number, and gas oscillation on mass and momentum transfer with water perfusate using mass spectrometry and mass flow controllers were studied. Manifolds with 112-196 microporous polypropylene fibers were mounted on 8 Fr multiple lumen, commercially available pulmonary artery catheters. Fiber lengths varied from 0.5 to 16 cm and surface areas from 7 to 220 cm2. Prototypes with 2 cm long fibers were constructed with 1-15 manifolds. A two manifold prototype with 8 cm long fibers and a surface area of 378 cm2 was also studied. The transfer failed to scale with manifold number because the steady gas flow was maldistributed to the manifolds. Oscillating gas pressures from 780 to 76 mmHg absolute at a rate of 40 cycles/min increased CO2 transfer up to 15-fold and O2 transfer up to 2.5-fold. Oscillation also corrected the maldistribution. Optimal fiber lengths of 3 and 1 cm for O2 and CO2, respectively, were seen with steady gas flow, and 8 cm for both with oscillatory gas flow.

Artificial Organs↗

Small intrapulmonary artery lung prototypes. Mathematical modeling of gas transfer.

Two diffusion models have been developed to analyze gas transfer data previously measured in an intravascular artificial lung consisting of a central gas supply catheter from which are tethered a large number of blind-ended microporous fibers of equal length. A convective-diffusion model (CD) describes the countercurrent transfer of a binary gas pair when gas is supplied at constant pressure conditions, and a well mixed (WM) cycled pressure model predicts transfer when the gas supply pressure is time cycled between compression and vacuum conditions. Regression of gas to gas and liquid to gas excretion data with the CD model resulted in estimates of the liquid phase mass transfer coefficient kAI. Because these values were intermediate between the kAI expected for flow parallel to a cylinder and for flow normal to a cylinder, gas transfer was influenced by both the tethered region of the fiber that was nearly perpendicular to the axis of the test section and the free end of the fiber that rested along the wall of the test section. With a time cycled gas supply pressure, the enhanced carbon dioxide and oxygen excretion predicted by the WM model was similar to the data, but a loss in transfer efficiency with fiber length was not accounted for by the theory.

Algorithms↗

Enhancement of O2 and CO2 transfer through microporous hollow fibers by pressure cycling.

An intravascular gas exchange device for the treatment of respiratory failure consisted of a multitude of blind-ended hollow fibers glued in a pine-needle arrangement to a central gas supply catheter. It has previously been shown that gas desorption rates can be significantly enhanced by cycling gas pressure between a hypobaric level of 130 and an ambient level of 775 Torr. In this study, influences of the cycling frequency (f) and the cycle fraction during which hypobaric pressure is applied (theta) were investigated. Rates of O2 desorption from O2-saturated water and CO2 desorption from CO2-saturated water into a manifold containing 198 fibers, 380 microm in diameter, were measured over a range of f from 0.2 to 1.0 Hz. theta from 0.1 to 0.8, and fiber lengths from 4 to 16 cm. Relative to operation at ambient pressure, pressure cycling increased O2 transfer 3-4 times and CO2 transfer 4-6 times when the water flowed over the fiber manifold at 2.3 l/min. Transfer rates were relatively insensitive tof and theta with 80%-90% of maximum enhancement obtained when theta was as low as 0.2. Transfer rates increased continuously with fiber length, implying that pressure cycling reduced the intra-fiber resistance to gas diffusion. A mathematical diffusion model which utilized only two adjustable parameters, a mass transfer coefficient for O2 and for CO2, simulated the trends exhibited by desorption data.

Artificial Organs↗