The hyperbaric chamber is used mainly for the treatment of acute and chronic problems directly related to medicine and surgery. In addition, the chamber is also on continuous alert for treatment of diving emergencies, including Type II decompression sickness and air embolism.
Air embolism is another diving emergency frequently treated in our chamber.
In addition to the two medical-treatment chambers, the Marine Biomedical Institute maintains several smaller chambers for use in the hyperbaric research projects. Current research by Dr. Mader is designed to explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygen on experimental Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudominas aeruginosa osteomyelitis. Under identical treatment conditions, hyperbaric oxygen had no direct in vitro inhibitory or lethal effect on S. aureus , but Dr. Mader has shown that the intramedullary oxygen tension in osteomyelitci bone is insufficient to support normal phagocytic function, whereas hyperbaric oxygen in our model concentrations consistent with normal phagocytic function and thus the killing of the S. aureus . In one P. aeruginosa osteomyelitic model, hyperbaric oxygen potentiates the effect of the aminoglycoside-to tobramycin. Finally we are comparing the biomechanical strength of osteomyelitic bone before and after a series of hyperbaric treatment.