[net.space] Perfluorocarbons in the Lungs...

dietz@SLB-DOLL.CSNET (Paul Dietz) (03/06/86)

Eugene Miya sent me a caustic letter in which he proposed I let them
pour Cray-2 coolant into my lungs.  Since I don't seem to be able
to send mail to Mr. Miya, I'll have to post the response here.

As Mr. Miya may not be aware, there are many different kinds of
perfluorocarbon compound.  Some, such as the compound used in Fluosol
artificial blood emulsion, have a very large capacity for dissolving
oxygen.  This stuff has been used in people, and can be frozen for
storage (unlike real blood).  Experimental animals have breathed
some perfluorocarbons.  The stuff used in the Cray-2 is probably not
optimized for carrying oxygen.