Hyperbaric oxygenation apparatus and methods

A method of oxygenating a limb of a patient comprising the steps of:

• (a) encapsulating a selected limb of the patient having an exposed injury within an inflatable disposable impervious hollow collapsible bag which is closed at the distal end thereof and releasibly sealed to the limb of the patient at the proximal end thereof;
• (b) releasibly placing the hollow interior of the bag in fluid communication with a source of oxygen supplying oxygen at a substantially constant pressure to a patient respirator which is usable but not being used for patient respiratory therapy, but is currently not used and which intermittently supplies oxygen at a selectable positive pressure and exhausts oxygen earlier supplied to the atmosphere;
• (c) passing a predetermined quantity of influent oxygen from the source through the respirator to the hollow interior of the bag through a single site input/output port over a short, preselected span of time until the internal pressure within the bag reaches a predetermined relatively high selected positive value which restricts blood flow and the bag is inflated;
• (d) terminating passing of said influent oxygen through the respirator to the interior of the bag and exhausting oxygen from the bag through the same single site input/output port and then through the respirator to the atmosphere for a second relatively short, preselected span of time thereby decreasing the positive pressure within the bag from a relatively high positive value to a lower positive value which accommodates the restoration of uncurtailed blood flow but nevertheless delivers oxygen under positive pressure to the wound thereby only partially deflating the bag;
• (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) successively over a protracted period of time.

A pulsatile flow hyperbaric chamber system which uses an existing respiratorically idle patient respirator to provide pulsatile pressure at manually selectable variable rates and pressure levels, said system comprising:

• a source of gas continuously available comprising oxygen used in the hyperbaric chamber;
• the respirator comprising means by which respiratory modifications are selectively made to the gas influent comprising humidification, intermittent flow control for both delivery of the gas, maximum and minimum gas pressure level control, and pulsatile rate control;
• a disposable, portable hyperbaric chamber comprising an elongated inflatable collapsible bag comprising a body of gas impervious synthetic resinous film comprising a hollow interior in which a limb of the patient is disposed for treatment, proximal end means, means imperviously closing the distal end of the bag, two way single site input/output means in communication with the respirator to receive and exhaust gases which intermittently provide higher and lower pressures within the bag, but continuously maintain at least partial bag inflation;
• the chamber further comprising proximal end means sized to surround the limb of the patient, the proximal end means comprising means which are caused to compressively but manually releasibly engage the limb of the patient so as to maintain and hermetically seal the proximal end of the bag against the limb of the patient.