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Removing an Inside Observer (IO) from an uncomfortable and potentially hazardous vacuum chamber while preserving the IO's “presence” in the chamber by way of a remotely operated robot arm and camera is evaluated. This approach is proving itself effective in performing non-invasive echocardiography during high-altitude Decompression Sickness (DCS) research. For robots in environmental isolation applications to be considered viable, it must be safe (especially when operating in proximity to humans), it should be easy and intuitive to operate, and it should be adaptable to meet changing operational needs. This paper describes the considerations involved, approach taken, and results obtained in this novel robotic engineering application.

Since 1974, the University of Southern California’s Catalina Marine Science Center (CMSC) Hyperbaric Chamber Facility has treated 302 cases of decompression sickness and cerebral air embolism. The U.S. Navy hyperbaric oxygen treatment tables are almost universally accepted and used, and are highly successful. The method consists of administering 100% O2 by mask intermittently in a hyperbaric chamber at pressures of 2.73 and 1.82 ATA, and 50% N2/50% 02 at 6.00 ATA. This paper briefly reviews: 1) the pathophysiology of air embolism and decompression sickness, 2) the basic rationale and goals of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and 3) the specific treatment tables used at CMSC. The experience of 12 years of decompression accident management is discussed with emphasis on treatment table modification, treatment results and problem areas. Finally, the potential application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for EVA decompression accidents in the future Space Station is discussed.