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A portable hyperbaric bag, of which one brand is the Gamow () bag, is an inflatable pressure bag large enough to accommodate a person. The patient can be placed inside the bag, which is then sealed and inflated with a foot pump. Within minutes, the effective altitude can be decreased by 1000 m to as much as 3000 m (3281 to 9743 feet) depending on the elevation. The bag is pressurised to ; the pressure gradient is regulated by pop-off valves set to the target pressure.
A portable hyperbaric bag, of which one brand is the Gamow () bag, is an inflatable pressure bag large enough to accommodate a person. The patient can be placed inside the bag, which is then sealed and inflated with a foot pump. Within minutes, the effective altitude can be decreased by 1000 m to as much as 3000 m (3281 to 9743 feet) depending on the elevation. The bag is pressurised to ; the pressure gradient is regulated by pop-off valves set to the target pressure.
History
The Gamow bag was named after its inventor, Igor Gamow, son of George Gamow. Igor Gamow originally designed a predecessor to the Gamow bag called "The Bubble" to study the effect ofhigh altitude
Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometry, geographical s ...
on stamina and performance in athletes. Gamow later re-designed "The Bubble" into a bag that could be used in high-altitude wilderness.
Application
It is primarily used for treating severe cases ofaltitude sickness
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...
, Gov't Doc # USARIEM-TN94-2. high-altitude cerebral edema, and high-altitude pulmonary edema. Like office-based hyperbaric medicine
Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an increase in barometric pressure of typically air or oxygen is used. The immediate effects include reducing the size of gas emboli and raising the partial pressures of the gases present. Initial ...
, the Gamow bag uses increased partial pressure of oxygen for therapy of hypobaric injury but has the advantage of portability for field use. Patients typically are treated in 1-hour increments and then are reevaluated.
See also
* Altitude tent * Wilderness medicineReferences
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