title: Theoretical considerations on the ultimate depth that could be reached by saturation human divers.
abstract: The occurrence of paroxysmal narcotic episodes including psychotic-like symptoms in divers participating to experimental deep diving programs with various gas mixtures has constituted, beyond the classical symptoms of the high-pressure neurological syndrome, the major limitation for deep diving. With the development of new saturation deep diving programs and experiments by the eastern nations, such as India and China, we believed that it is of interest to examine what could be the ultimate depth that could be reached by saturation human divers. Based on previous data and the critical volume model of inert gas narcosis, we propose that the ultimate depth for saturation diving could be around 1,000 m.
authors.affiliation: Université de Caen Normandie, Faculté de Médecine, Caen, France; Département d'Anesthésiologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada; Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), Equipe Résidente de Recherche Subaquatique Opérationnelle (ERRSO), Toulon, France.
authors.forename: Jacques H
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6435-9819
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Abraini
authors.affiliation: Département d'Anesthésiologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Hélène N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: David
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), Equipe Résidente de Recherche Subaquatique Opérationnelle (ERRSO), Toulon, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vallée
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées (IRBA), Equipe Résidente de Recherche Subaquatique Opérationnelle (ERRSO), Toulon, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Risso
keywords: deep diving; high-pressure neurological syndrome; inert gas narcosis; psychotic-like disorders; ultimate depth