Liquid breathing

O Master!
Thou art the real goal of human life
We are yet but slaves of wishes
putting bar to our advancement
Thou art the only god and Power
To bring us upto that Stage.
-Nitya Singh
(MS13093)
www.metal-archives.com/albums/Avelion/Liquid_Breathing/393427

Science fiction or science??
In the TV series, Seven Days Frank
Parker is seen breathing a hyper-
oxygenated liquid that is pumped
through a sealed full body suit, he is
wearing.
Next, he was seen boarding a
Russian submarine at the depth of
1000ft.
 Upon boarding the submarine he
removes his helmet, expels the liquid
from his lungs and is able to breathe
air again.
glamur.co.il/cbs-drama-october/

The James Cameron film The Abyss ,the
most memorable part of the movie involves
a diving helmet filled with a liquid that the
diver, with some trepidation, breathed.
It also features a scene with a rat
submerged in a liquid instead of drowning
was found breathing it.
www.quora.com/Can-humans-breathe-in-water-as-shown-in-the-movie-The-Abyss
quoteaddicts.com/topic/the-abyss-movie-poster

 Dan Brown uses the concept of
“liquid breathing” in the book
“the lost symbol” as a way to
snatch his hero, Robert Langdon,
from the jaws of death.
 Where he was completely
submerged in breathable liquid
mixed with hallucinogenic
chemicals as a torture, recovered
later.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Symbol

Can human actually breathe liquid
for real???
http://zidbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/breathing-liquid.jpg : image source

 For any fluid to work for human respiration it should
perform two functions extremely well-
A) Deliver O2 to the lungs
B) Remove CO2
 Air does this excellently well.
 Yes, liquid does it too by the process of Liquid breathing.

What is liquid breathing?
 It is a form of respiration in which normally air breathing
organism breathe highly oxygenated liquid rather than
breathing air.
 These oxygen rich liquids are
Perflorocarbons.(LIQUIVENTS).

History
 In mid 1960’s the Office of Navy Research funded basic
research at Duke University on liquid breathing.
 Dr Kylstra ,a physiologist realised that the salt solution
could be saturated with O2 at high pressures.
 After various experiments concluded that the mixture
grows toxic because of the build up of CO2.
 Used silicone oil ,the survival rate in the fluid was
dependent on temperature and viscosity.

History(cont...)
After experimentation Dr Clark in 1969
realised that O2 & CO2 are highly soluble in
the perflorocarbon.
It could be supported by the lungs and and
he also figured out that it supports
respiration in mammals.
Frank Falejczyk became the first person
to breathe oxygenated liquid.
(the fluid couldn’t be extracted out as per
planned so he got pneumonia )
 Researches found that the PFC’s could be
tolerated by the human lungs without ill
effects.
http://zidbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/PFC6.gif : image source

Perflorocarbon
 Organofluorine compounds with the formula of CxFy,
i.e they contain only carbon and fluorine.
 C-F is one of the strongest bond in organic chemistry.
 Multiple C-F bond also strengthen the “skeletal”
C-C bond via inductive effect.
 These chemicals are the alternatives to the ozone
depleting substances causing no harm to the
stratospheric ozone .
 Powerful green house gases.

Properties
 These are stable chemicals that are clear, colourless,
odourless & insoluble in H2O.
 Denser than both water (twice) and soft tissue.
 Surface tension(12-18 dyne/cm) and viscosity are
generally low.
 Certain PFC liquid have higher vapour pressure than
H2O &will evaporate much faster than H2O at body
temperatures.
 Non-toxic and biochemically inert.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
 Exceptionally high gas solubility & can dissolve as much as 20
times the amount of O2 and more than 3 times as much CO2 as
H2O.
 The O2 carrying capacity is more than 3 times than that of
blood(35-70mlgas/dl) & for CO2 is approximately four times as
that of O2(122-255ml/dl).

Examples of PFC’s
Perflubron
Perfluorooctyl
bromide.
C8F17Br
Also used in MRI, CT-
scan.
Perfluorodecalin
derivative of decalin.
Biochemically stable at
400˚C
High ability to dissolve
gases.
FC-75
Fluorocarbon
derivative of
terahydrofuran
C8F16O
Inert coolent fluid
/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC137239

Manufacturing Process (synthetic compounds)
 It started during the World War II & code name given
to these perfluorocarbons was Joe’s stuff.
 FOWLER PROCESS: it’s a industrial route by which
fluorinating hydrocarbons or their partially
fluorinated derivatives are produced in
the vapour phase over Cobalt(III)fluoride.
C6H14+28CoF3 C6F14+14HF+28CoF2
CoF2+F2 2CoF3
hydrocarbon
P
F
C
F2
Vertical stirred bed
reactor

 ELECTROCHEMICAL FLUORINATION (ECF):
 It involves electrolysis of a substrate dissolved in HF.
Electrolysis of HF gives F2.
Process works at low voltage(5-6V) so that free F2 is
not liberated.
 Substrates- ethers & tertiary amines.
2N(C6H13)3 + 90HF 6C6F14 + 2NF3 + 84H2
N(C6H13)3 + 39 HF N(C6F13)3 + 39H2

Approaches for liquid breathing
 PFC liquids are more dense and viscous than gas, with slower
spreading, higher diffusion coefficients, useful in ventilation
techniques.
 Techniques used are :
1. Total liquid ventilation
2. Partial liquid ventilation
 Functional residual capacity(FRC): the amount of air present in
the lungs at the end of the passive expiration.
 Tidal volume: It is the lung volume representing the
normal volume of air displaced between normal inhalation
and exhalation when extra effort is not applied.
 Breathing frequency( Respiratory rate): The number of
breaths per minute or, more formally, the number of
movements indicative of inspiration and expiration per unit
time.

Total liquid ventilation
 During the early work ,total immersion of several animal species
was employed ,animals survived for few hours if the liquid was
continuously replaced, but the increased work of breathing led
to fatigue.
 Later, well regulated LV technique was introduced which had a
controlled cycle of the respirator that circulated oxygenated
liquid to and from the lungs.
 In this technique the lungs is totally filled with the PFC fluid.
1. Functionally , it includes a membrane oxygenation circuit to
regulate the flow,
2. An oxygenator (for oxygenation of the expired fluid),
3. A heater.
4. A condensing system to recapture PFC

 PFC have high heat capacity ;the patients body temperature can
be easily regulate closely by the liquid temperature during
ventilation.
 Ventilation rate = 5 breathe/min
 FRC could be monitored by change in weight as liquid is
exchanged b/w the subject & the LV system.
 All manipulations are done within the boundaries of the set
pressure, volume & flow limits.
/pedsinreview.aappublications.org : image source

Partial liquid ventilation
 This technique is characterized by filling and
sustaining the lung with the PFC liquid less than equal
to the FRC.
 PFC liquid act as a artificial surfactant.
 PFC liquid+ GV PLV
 The residual PFC is oxygenated and CO2 is exchanged
by means of the tidal gas movement provided by GV.

darinselby.1hwy.com/lungenema03 : image source

Inside the human system!!
• Dissolve in lipids
as not soluble in
H2O
• >5.8mcg/ml in
blood
• Not metabolized
• Evaporation
during exhalation.
• Transpiration
through the skin
• PFC enters through
endotracheal tube.
• Diffuses & circulate
with blood &
tissues
• Highest level in
the lungs and
lowest in the liver.
• After24 hrs, tissue
level =250mg/ml.
Amount Lungs
FlowElimination

Obstacles to liquid breathing
 Extremely difficult for lungs to move liquids compared
to gases:
 PFC is dense ! 2000x more dense than air.
 Greater mass means more work for respiratory muscles
and longer transit time through airways.
Increased metabolism = Increase CO2 (toxic)

Applications
 Medical uses:
 In RDS of the premature babies.
The New England Journal of Medicine/ nejm.org/Massachusetts Medical Society/Volume 335
cenblog.org/2009/12/more-on-dan-brown-and-liquid-breathing/

 Severe respiratory failure:
-Acute respiratory distress syndrome
-Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
-Aspiration syndrome.
Drug delivery
en.yibada.com/articles/143563/20160721/russia-s-darpa-developing-tech-allow-humans-breathe-water-drown

Non medical potential uses:
Diving
 Space travel
gizmodo.com/can-humans-breathe-liquid-1156138301 : image source
cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/24566/Less-Than-Easy-Breathing

References
 The New England Journal of Medicine/ nejm.org/Massachusetts
Medical Society/Volume 335
 www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2002/shorrock/Liquid_breathing.htm
 Liquid Ventilation: Current Status-Thomas H. Shaffer, PhD*,
Marla R. Wolfson, PhD†, Jay S.
Greenspan/pedsinreview.aappublications.org/
 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3191624/
 10.1021/jo0302556/2004 American Chemical Society/ J. Org. Chem.
2004, 69, 1-11 1
 www.uptodate.com/contents/liquid-ventilation
 cenblog.org/2009/12/more-on-dan-brown-and-liquid-breathing/
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who
provided me the possibility to complete this seminar. A special
gratitude I would give to my respected teachers Dr. K.S Vishwanathan,
Dr. Arijit at IISER Mohali, for providing this opportunity to improve
and learn by introducing this course.
Furthermore I would also like to acknowledge with much
appreciation the crucial role of my elder brother Aditya V. Singh,
discussing with whom I got this idea of talk .
A special thanks to my friends Abhishek and Vaibhvi for pointing
out my mistakes and supporting me throughout the preparation and
the execution of the seminar. Lastly, I would thank my laptop without
which this could have been never possible.

Liquid breathing

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