An Electrical Analogue for the Study of Tissue Saturation Processes with Oxygen and Inert Gases

Abstract

A resistance-capacity analogue machine for the study of the saturation and desaturation of tissues with oxygen and inert gases is described. Two types of deviation from saturation time courses of exponential form are found, and the occurrence of these depends upon the blood flow rate in relation to the geometrical arrangement of capillaries in the tissue. The difference between the effects of parallel and antiparallel blood flow in adjacent capillaries upon the saturation time course is shown. The relevance of the results to the estimation of regional blood flow in tissues from saturation time courses is discussed.