Oxygen transport to tissue by persistent bubbles: Theory and simulations

Abstract

Persistent gas bubbles able to traverse capillaries can be prepared from a slowly permeating gas or with a mechanical structure surrounding a gas phase. If they are permeable to gases, such bubbles will carry O2 from the lungs to the tissues via the blood stream. Using a mathematical model based on physical laws, we present simulations of the behavior of bubbles stabilized by a slowly permeating gas (gas X). We show that the bubble persists longer if the tissue and venous blood contain N2 to dilute gas X and slow its outward diffusion. A 6-μm-diam bubble carries 0.11 pl of O2 during the breathing of pure O2, so 4.6 x 108 bubbles/ml in the blood will supply a normal arteriovenous difference. In conditions used for hyperbaric O2 therapy, a bubble carries ~0.26 pl of O2. Stabilized bubbles have the potential to transport O2 efficiently; they release O2 to tissue at high PO2 and require injection of only small amounts of a foreign substance.