What is a Hyperbaric Chamber?
The purpose of a hyperbaric chamber is to create a controlled environment for human occupancy. The aspects of the human occupancy environment that is to be controlled are : Total Pressure, Partial Pressure of Oxygen - (% x's Pressure), Humidity and Temperature.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy refers to the administration of Oxygen for prolonged periods for the purpose of benefitting the recipient. HBO treatment occurs when the patient breathes high fractions of Oxygen (usually as close to 100% as possible ) intermittently while the ambient pressure is elevated ( within certain limits).

There are several types of hyperbaric chambers. They can be placed in the following general categories : Portable Mono-place, Stationary Mono-place and Multi-place. More elaborate multi-place chambers have two or more separate sections that can be independently pressurized to permit entrance or exit while the main section is under pressure. These are called double-lock-multi-place chambers.

How Does a Hyperbaric Chamber Work?
The inside of the chamber is pressurized by adding Air at higher pressure, usually supplied by an Air compressor, and permitting the patient to breathe Oxygen at this ambient or surrounding pressure. The Oxygen is supplied through a Built-In-Breathing-System called a BIBS. Some mono-place chambers are operated without a BIBS. In this case the pressurizing gas and the breathing gas are the same ...... Oxygen. This practice is considered exceptionally hazardous as the risk of fire is multiplied many times over. Mono-place chambers are frequently pressurized with Oxygen to be more patient-friendly and to avoid the need for a mouth mask. This may make the treatment more practical in certain cases but does not however lessen the added risk.

From the simplest to the most elaborate of HBO chambers there are several common components.
- The main chamber or pressure vessel.
- The pressure supply, either from a compressor or stored high pressure gas or both.
- A pressurized Oxygen supply of known purity with a breathing system or pressure controls.


-Excerpts taken from Hyperbaric Chamber Operator, Training and Reference Manual, © January 2003, ANDI International

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