Development of an Adaptive Gas Exchange Model for Decompression Sickness Mitigation in Military Diving and High-Altitude Flying Operations

The present project aims at: (I) identifying more accurately the actual Decompression Sickness (DCS) risk for the Belgian Special Forces and the aircrew of the A400M during VHA missions, and divers of the Belgian Navy; (II) identifying physiological characteristics and operational conditions which significantly influence the risk of DCS occurrence; (III) and recommending potential strategies to balance the accepted DCS risk with operational demands. It is stipulated that a better understanding of the inert gas exchange is primordial to answer these questions. NASA states that ‘knowing anything conclusive about nitrogen washout would greatly help to understand the true risk of DCS’ (NASA, 2016). By developing a new adaptive biophysical gas exchange model, we will be able to accurately describe the actual inert gas state during different operational conditions, taking into account different body and physiological characteristics. This will enable improvements on DCS risk prediction and mitigation.

This project GEMINIDS- HFM/21-06 is financed by DFR.