1973/03/01 by David J. Graves, J. Idicula, C. J. Lambertsen +1 · 18 citations
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics · Medicine · Engineering · Chemistry · #Advancements in Transdermal Drug Delivery #Thermoregulation and physiological responses #Particle Dynamics in Fluid Flows #Supersaturation #Isobaric process #Chemistry #Helium #Inert gas #Bubble #Inert #Itching #Liquid bubble #Chemical physics #Materials science #Thermodynamics #Mechanics #Composite material #Physics #Organic chemistry #Surgery #Medicine
paper · doi:10.1088/0031-9155/18/2/009
published in Physics in Medicine and Biology 18(2), 256-264 (IOP Publishing)
openalex publication_date 1973/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In recent simulated diving experiments, subjects have experienced intense itching, confluent maculopapular skin lesions and a severe vestibular derangement with vertigo and nystagmus. These effects have been observed when a gas mixture containing nitrogen or neon is being breathed while a second inert gas, helium, is present in the surrounding environment. Attempts to explain this phenomenon led to a study of counterdiffusion through two-layer composites. When the two layers differ in their relative permeabilities to the two diffusing species, and when the layers are arranged in the proper sequence in a counterdiffusion system, a steady-state supersaturation results within the two layers. Bubble formation in an oil-water system and continual flow of gas into an intermembrane space in a two-membrane system are demonstrated experimentally: both effects were predicted from diffusion theory. In addition to providing a possible explanation for the itching phenomenon and vestibular derangement, the theory has a wide range of applications to physical and biological processes.