Suunto Fused™ RGBM

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NOT ALL BUBBLES ARE EQUALWith the use of Doppler technologyand later electron microscopes, scientistsdiscovered that the body canhave “silent” bubbles that are presentthroughout blood and tissues. Theyare called silent because they do notcause DCS. Some of these are smallmicrobubbles while others are fullblown,easily detected bubbles. Andyet neither kind necessarily causesDCS symptoms.Although it is not yet clear the exactrelationship between these and DCScausingbubbles, studies have shownthat higher microbubble countsincrease the likelihood of DCS andother illnesses.What has also been established isthat once formed, these bubblesare unstable. They have an ability toattract dissolved gas from surroundingtissues and the likelihood of abubble either expanding or collapsingis determined by a range of factors.These factors include the surfacetension of the bubble, the pressurewithin the bubble and the ambientpressure relative to the bubble.A diver who completes multiple diveswithin a given day or even over anumber of days may have a build-upof silent bubbles. The accumulationof bubbles may lead to a higher riskof DCS. It is also known that microbubblescan cause longer-term problemssuch as neurological damage.This is particularly relevant to professionaldivers such as instructors, whocomplete many of repetitive dives,often with many ascents in one trainingsession. Microbubbles can collectinside the alveoli, obstructingand slowing off-gassing.Bubbles form much easier in humantissues than in pure liquids, 200 timeseasier, in fact. Careless diving practicesare exceptionally risky becauseof this.A process called nucleation is the reasonbehind the rapid bubble formationin tissues. The human body haswhat are called micronuclei, microscopicpockets caused, for example,by friction between tissue surfacesor changes in tissue dimensions (likemuscle contractions). These micro-nucleican fill with gas and act as seedsfor bubbles.It is unknown how many micronucleiare in the body at any given time, but itappears heavy exercise creates more.Studies have also shown that rapid increasein pressure crushes micronucleiand reduces the overall count. Regularexercise also reduces overall count.Copyright © 2012 by Suunto Oy. All rights reserved.Microbubbles obstructblood flowMicrobubbles in the capillariesaround the alveoli may obstructthe blood stream and inhibit offgassing.Microbubblesblock nervesBy shutting off the blood flow,microbubbles can also causetissue death, for example in thesensitive retina of the eye. Thesynapse is the junction betweena nerve terminal and thenextneurone in a long chainof neurones. Microbubblescan interpose themselves inthese junctions causing longterm neurological damageby preventing electricaltransmissions.Suunto Fused RGBM www.suunto.com 6
SUUNTO Fused RGBM IN PRACTICEEarlier Haldanian dissolved gas modelsassumed that in order to decompress,a diver should ascend as quicklyas possible to a shallow depth to maximiseoff-gassing. However, by quicklyreaching that shallow depth, the divermay have already formed microbubbles.At the very least, these microbublescould potentially obstruct off-gassingand at the worst, may have alreadycaused some tissue damage.Therefore, there is a need to keep themicronuclei from forming into microbubblesand prevent any pre-existingbubbles from growing by applying anappropriate ascent protocol.The Suunto Fused RGBM is a state ofthe art algorithm for managing bothdissolved gas and free-gas (microbubbles)in the tissues and blood ofa diver.It is a significant advancement overthe classical Haldane models, whichdo not predict microbubbles or micronuclei.The advantage of the SuuntoRGBM is a more accurate repre-sentation of what is happening in realityin your body during (and after) adive. It has the ability to adapt to awide variety of situations with little orno manual input from the diver.Copyright © 2012 by Suunto Oy. All rights reserved.Percentage of M0 (zero subscript) value (%)12010080604020Exponential curveThe Suunto RGBM usesexponential formula forcalculating the uptake ofinert gases such as nitrogenBecause of the added safety from provenRGBM factors, Suunto now uses symmetricgas elimination. Additional safety is providedby the RGBM model developed by Dr.Bruce Wienke. This combination allows diversto maximize dive time without decompressionobligations. If decompression is needed,the Suunto model calculates the mostefficient decompression possible.0010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 140Dive time (min)Suunto Fused RGBM www.suunto.com 7
Page 2 and 3: THE PATH TO FUSED RGBMAt the heart
Page 4 and 5: DECOMPRESSION SICKNESSThe amount of
Page 8 and 9: The RGBMs address a number ofdiving
Page 10 and 11: CONTINUOUS DECOMPRESSIONTraditional
Page 12 and 13: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS WITH SUUNTO Fus
Page 14: TERM LISTConservative (vs. aggressi

Suunto Fused™ RGBM

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