Gas Bubble Dynamics in the Human Body

Saul Goldman is a Professor Emeritus in the Chemistry Department at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Goldman is a highly cited researcher in statistical mechanics, transport theory, and simulations applied to atoms and molecules in fluid phases and to ions in ion channels. The purpose of much of his work is to predict and understand the thermodynamic, structural, spectroscopic and transport properties of molecules, atoms and ions, particularly under conditions that are relevant to molecular biology and engineering. Recent interests include the dynamics of gas bubbles in the body, and developing improved biophysical models for reducing the risk of decompression sickness and arterial gas embolism in scuba diving. Juan Manuel Solano-Altamirano is an Assistant Professor at the Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla, Mexico. Solano-Altamirano is interested in inter-disciplinary topics involving mathematics, physics, chemistry and high-performance computing. In particular, he is interested in the thermodynamic stability of elastic systems, dynamics of gas bubbles embedded in liquids and soft elastic media, studying the chemical bond from the perspective of quantum theory of atoms in molecules, and general aspects of physical chemistry and mathematical modeling. Kenneth M. LeDez is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, Health Sciences Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. He is an anesthesiologist and former Research Director and academic Chair of the Discipline of Anesthesia at Memorial University. After graduating from medical school at the University of Dundee, Scotland, and undertaking training in anesthesia in London he returned to his native Canada in 1985 for a research Fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and later additional residency training in anesthesia at the University of Toronto. It was there that Dr. LeDez revitalized the hyperbaric medicine service during a fellowship in Hyperbaric Medicine. He played a key role in founding the Canadian Chapter of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (now the Canadian Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Association – CUHMA) and was the first President. As Chair of the CUHMA Standards of Practice and Patient Safety Committee he was the editor and lead author of the “Guidelines to the Practice of Hyperbaric Medicine and Provision of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment in Canada”. He is a past Vice-President of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) and on the Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia for 9 years. Dr. LeDez led the effort to establish national physician certification in hyperbaric medicine in Canada and this culminated in the approval of the Diploma in Hyperbaric Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Now as Chair of the Specialty Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine he is leading the effort to implement the Diploma. Dr. LeDez has more than 30 years’ experience in Hyperbaric Medicine. He has been providing medical coverage for saturation diving in the offshore oil industry in Newfoundland and Labrador for 25 years by providing Diving Medicine services to Atlantic Offshore Medical Services. Dr. LeDez is recognized as a Specialist in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. He is Medical Director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Service at Eastern Health in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. For over two decades he has represented Canada on the International Standards Organization committee (TC121) on Anesthesia and respiratory equipment. During his career, Dr. LeDez has published multiple articles and abstracts related to anesthesiology and hyperbaric medicine. He is married and has five young boys. Although now too busy to continue as a pilot, Dr. LeDez is an enthusiastic sailor, SCUBA Diver and underwater videographer.

1. Bubbles in the body: The not so good, the bad and the ugly2. Driving force for gas bubble growth and dissolution3. Rates of gas bubble growth and dissolution in simple liquids4. Estimating the radii and lifetimes of small gas bubbles suspended in simple liquids5. AGEs in scuba diving and in DCS-like problems in breath-hold diving6. Gas bubbles in soft tissue-like solids7. The evils that bubbles do8. Compartmental decompression models and DCS risk estimation9. Treating teh evils that bubbles do10. Merging medicine and Mmath: Gas bubble dynamics in the treatment of gas-bubble disease