" Researchers have created a new model for predicting decompression sickness after deep-sea dives that not only estimates the risk, but how severe the symptoms are likely to be.
The US Navy Diving Manual may incorporate the model into its next update, as will commercial products intended to help recreational divers plan their ascents to avoid "the bends."
The results appear online on March 15, 2017, in the journal PLOS ONE.
"The current guidelines only give you a probability as to whether or not decompression sickness is likely to happen after a given dive," said Laurens Howle, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke, who has been working on these models with the Navy for a decade. "This is the first time we've been able to also address the likely severity of the potential sickness, helping divers determine acceptable risk."
All risks have two components -- the likelihood of something bad happening and just how bad that something is likely to be. Having a model that accurately provides both aspects will allow divers to better plan safe depths and ascents to help their bodies adjust -- preventing painful and potentially fatal results."