Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2013 Jul 1;115(1):145-9. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00094.2013. Epub 2013 Apr 18.
Some pilots flying modern high-performance fighter aircraft develop "hypoxia-like" incidents characterized by short periods of confusion and cognitive impairment. The problem is serious and recently led to the grounding of a fleet of aircraft. Extensive discussions of the incidents have taken place but some people believe that there is inadequate data to determine the cause. There is a tremendous disconnect between what is known about the function of the aircraft and the function of the pilot. This paper describes a plan for measuring the inspired and expired Po2 and Pco2 in the pilot's mask, the inspiratory flow rate, and pressure in the mask. A critically important requirement is that the interference with the function of the pilot is minimal. Although extensive physiological measurements were previously made on pilots in ground-based experiments such as rapid decompression in an altitude chamber and increased acceleration on a centrifuge, in-flight measurements of gas exchange have not been possible until now primarily because of the lack of suitable equipment. The present paper shows how the recent availability of small, rapidly responding oxygen and carbon dioxide analyzers make sophisticated in-flight measurements feasible. The added information has the potential of greatly improving our knowledge of pilot physiology, which could lead to an explanation for the incidents.
一些驾驶现代高性能战斗机的飞行员会出现“类似缺氧”的情况，其特征是短时间的困惑和认知障碍。这个问题很严重，最近导致了一批飞机停飞。虽然已经对这些事件进行了广泛的讨论，但有些人认为没有足够的数据来确定原因。飞机的功能和飞行员的功能之间存在巨大的脱节。本文描述了一种测量飞行员面罩中吸入和呼出的 Po2 和 Pco2、吸气流量以及面罩内压力的计划。一个至关重要的要求是，对飞行员功能的干扰最小。尽管以前在地面实验中对飞行员进行了广泛的生理测量，例如在高空舱中快速减压和在离心机上增加加速度，但直到现在，由于缺乏合适的设备，还不可能进行飞行中的气体交换测量。本文展示了小型、快速响应的氧气和二氧化碳分析仪的最新可用性如何使复杂的飞行中测量成为可能。这些额外的信息有可能极大地提高我们对飞行员生理学的认识，从而为这些事件提供解释。
