High-Pressure Nervous Syndrome and divers’ wellbeing evaluation in operational setting

Extreme Environmental Physiology (University of Portsmouth, UK) (2019) Proc Physiol Soc 44, C26

Oral Communications: High-Pressure Nervous Syndrome and divers’ wellbeing evaluation in operational setting

S. Berenji Ardestani1, C. Balestra2,5, E. Bouzinova3, Ø. Loennechen4, M. Pedersen1

1. Clinical medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 2. Environmental, Occupational, Ageing (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), Brussels, Belgium. 3. Institute for Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. 4. TechnipFMC, Stavanger, Norway. 5. Divers Alert Network Europe - Research Division, Roseto, Italy.

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Introduction: When divers are compressed to water depths greater than 150 meter sea water (msw), symptoms of high pressure neurological syndrome (HPNS) might appear due to rapid increase in pressure on the central nervous system during compression (1). The aim of this study was to first operate a new computerized tool, designed to monitor divers’ wellbeing and cognitive function, and to record the results (2). The second aim was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of the Physiopad software and HPNS questionnaires as a new tool for monitoring divers wellbeing in an operational setting, including sensible visualization and presentation of results. Methods: The Physiopad was operated onboard Deep Arctic (TechnipFMC Diving Support Vessel). The diving work was performed between 180-207 msw. The data from 46 divers were collected from the HPNS questionnaires, Hand dynamometry test, Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency test (CFFF), Adaptive Visual Analog Scale (AVAS), Simple Math Process (MathProc test), Perceptual Vigilance Task (PVT) and Time Estimation Task (time-wall). Result: Diver’s subjective evaluation revealed different symptoms, possibly also HPNS related, which lasted between 1 to 5 days in storage, with the common duration being 1 day. The results from Physiopad battery testing showed no signs of significant neurological alteration. Conclusion: The present study showed the feasibility of using the computerized test battery to monitor saturation divers wellbeing at work. The HPNS battery and Physiopad software could be an important tool for monitoring diver’s health in the future. This tool was not used during Bahr project to operationally evaluate any HPNS effect on divers as data analysis was performed post-project. Keywords: HPNS, saturation diving, central nervous system, neuropsychology, arousal.



Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.

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