A large environmental chamber for the study of hypercapnia and hypoxia

Abstract

The design and operating characteristics of an environmental chamber which can maintain carbon dioxide concentrations between 1 and 20% and oxygen concentrations between 5 and 21% are described. The chamber, which measures 3.66 x 6.10 m (12 x 20 ft), permits acute and chronic studies to be carried out in either large animals or man. Multiple safety features serve to protect the occupants against failure of equipment or controls. The relative ease with which investigators can work in the chamber, the convenience of long-term operation, and the reliability of the system which controls the gas concentrations provide a unit which has proved useful for the investigation of a variety of physiologic phenomena related to hypercapnia. Preliminary observations indicate that acute and chronic studies of hypoxia will be equally feasible. acid-base; anoxia; respiratory acidosis Submitted on May 11, 1964