[Mass spectrometric determination of the gas content of blood]

The operational principle of the new mass-spectroscopic device for determining the gas content in blood is based on extracting gases from blood samples into vacuum volume and measuring their content with mass spectrometer. The increased sensitivity and measurement accuracy are achieved by raising the pressure of gases during the process of freezing out the water vapors as well as by making use of calibrating gas. About 0.5-1.0 ml of blood are enough for the analysis. The low pressure in the extraction chamber favors complete removal of gases from the sample without using hemolyzing reagents. Besides O2 and CO2 it is possible to determine the content of other gases including narcotic and inert gases.