Multiplace Hyperbaric Chambers

Multiplace hyperbaric chambers are for treating many patients at once. Therefore, this type of chamber is more suitable for hospitals, clinics, and centers. The high pressure inside the multiplace hyperbaric oxygen chambers is due to the compressed air inside. Patients breathe hyperbaric oxygen with a mask connected to the oxygen delivery mechanism, which provides a separate outlet for each patient.

Multiplace hyperbaric chambers can be of different shapes (cylindrical, rectangular, spherical, etc.). Cylindrical chambers are the most common type of chamber. Their entrance doors are circular or rectangular. Those with circular doors have models with very wide or full-opening entrances to the chamber. These models provide convenience, especially for patients who will undergo treatment with a rehabilitation bed. Rectangular chambers give the patient the feeling of being in a normal hospital room. This feature reduces the patient’s anxiety.

Multiplace chambers generally have a front section (antechamber), a main chamber, and a mini section (transfer lock). The anterior chamber is for entrances and exits into the chambers and is therefore empty. The treatment of patients takes place in the main section. There is a door between the front and main compartments. This gate is for creating or equalizing the pressure difference between the two sections. The door between can open only after the pressures of both chambers are equal. Multiplace chambers also have a small compartment that is connected to the main compartment. This mini-chamber is a small pressure cavity in itself. The mini compartment has two doors that open outwards and into the main chamber. This place makes it possible to transfer food, materials, and medical equipment from outside to inside the room or from inside to outside with equalizations in internal pressure.

Multiplace chambers are high or wide enough to allow the average person to stand comfortably inside. The inner diameter and length of the chamber may vary depending on how many people they can accommodate. In addition, the number and location of the seats in the chamber may change depending on the number of patients and the condition of the patients. All the seats can be removed, and the patient can receive treatment while lying in bed.

There is even the possibility of transforming the interior of the multiplace chambers into a fully equipped operating room. In its time such chambers served as operating rooms for many surgeries (especially cardiac surgery). However, today, the practice of surgical operation in chambers has been abandoned.

It is possible to obtain higher pressure values in multiplace chambers than in monoplace chambers. For this reason, these types of chambers are more suitable for research related to deep dives. Apart from that, multiplace hyperbaric chambers are more suitable for the treatment of complicated, multisystem-involved diseases.

During the treatment, the possibility of other people (for example, health personnel) being in the chamber is an important feature of the multiplace chambers. It is also possible to transfer equipment or health personnel into the chamber through the front compartment.

The management of multiplace chambers used to be manual only. Today, monitoring patients, executing the patient treatment program, and monitoring them with video cameras depend on automation systems. Monitoring of humidity, temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide level, and other values in the chamber, ventilation, alarm, and sprinkler systems according to the number of patients is completely computer-based. During the treatment in the chamber, patients have the opportunity to use entertainment tools (television, video, music, internet). The control panel next to the chamber makes it possible to execute and store all phases of the treatment. This control panel is sufficient for a single person to monitor and control the administration processes. However, the design generally has a feature that prevents the person who manages the procedures from moving away from the treatment area. Chamber administration also allows the transition from a computer system to manual control when necessary.

Multiplace chambers offer the opportunity to achieve the high pressures required in the treatment of arterial gas embolism, type 2 decompression sickness, Clostridial myonecrosis, and some other diseases. These chambers are useful in terms of treating many patients in the same session, being suitable for long treatments, and facilitating the treatment of intensive care patients. The advantages of multiplace chambers are that both the patients and the healthcare professionals are in the hyperbaric chamber and can intervene immediately when necessary. The relatively large interior volumes of the multiplace chamber also reduce the incidence of claustrophobia. Since the pressure in these chambers rises with air and the treatment continues with air breaks, the risk of oxygen poisoning and fire is also low.

Multiplace chambers also have some disadvantages in terms of facility and application management. First, there is the possibility of spreading the infection from patient to patient during mass therapy. It is not appropriate for some patients to receive treatment in multiplace chambers alone. Another problem is the decrease in the effectiveness of the treatment due to the fact that the patients wear masks during the treatment (for example, the mask does not fit well) and oxygen leakage into the chamber.

Multiplace chambers are also very expensive in terms of space, establishment, number of staff involved, and cost of each session. To explain, they require a large area with high and low-pressure compressors, air tanks, air conditioning systems, sprinkler systems, control panels, and other attachments. The installation of these systems also requires a ground floor in terms of safety. In addition, there is a risk of decompression sickness in the health personnel who are inside during the treatment.