Hyperbaric chamber a new frontier at IMC

The new "Enterprise" high-tech air-pressure chamber in Intermountain Medical Center's hyperbaric medicine unit not only will offer better ways to treat some patients, but also will explore high-altitude medicine on a research basis.

The Salt Lake Valley is some 625 miles from the ocean. So a "diving chamber" like the one at Intermountain — best-known for treating the bends in deep-sea divers — may seem out of place here. However, such hyperbaric treatment chambers also can help treat troublesome wounds or infections, radiation-damaged tissues and even carbon monoxide poisoning.

And, yes, Intermountain does occasionally treat some scuba divers who return from tropical areas with the bends.

After months of preparation, fine-tuning and testing, the Intermountain Medical Center unveiled the hyperbaric treatment chamber Tuesday.

The chamber, one of the most sophisticated in the world, has been years in the making. In fact, the massive $1.3 million, 25-ton unit was put in place in the lower level patient tower, 5121 S. Cottonwood St., before the walls even went up at the nearly one-year-old IMC.

The state-of-the art unit — unique to the Intermountain area — allows patients to move about inside. Manufactured in Australia, it was among the first of its kind to be delivered to the United States.

And, yes, it is named after the "Star Trek" icon. According to Dr. Lindell K. Weaver of Intermountain Healthcare's hyperbaric medicine department, staff started using "Star Trek" names for some equipment back in 1987, since most of them really liked the shows.

Given the chamber's massive doors, three thick glass portal windows and futuristic computer monitors, the name Enterprise does seem appropriate.

Fall is also the perfect time to have this equipment. Each year, more than 40,000 Americans — including more than 400 Utahns — are treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. Weaver said the chamber can cut brain damage in half for CO poisoning. "It can also save limbs," he said.

Normally, the air humans breathe contains only 21 percent oxygen. During hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a patient breathes 100 percent oxygen in an environment where the air pressure is two to three times greater than the atmospheric pressure at sea level. This dissolves more oxygen in the bloodstream, sending it to every part of the body, stimulating blood vessel growth and enhancing the immune system's ability to fight infection.

The chamber also has research potential. It has both hypo- and hyperbaric capabilities, meaning the air pressure can be changed to simulate conditions at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet — higher than Mount Everest — or up to 99 feet below sea level for treating patients.

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