Bubble dissolution physics and the treatment of decompression sickness

The treatment of decompression sickness often involves both recompressing the victim and administering hyperbaric oxygen in the hope of more rapidly dissolving the bubbles which cause this malady. Although many hundreds of such treatments are conducted each year in the United States alone, the underlying physical principles governing the dissolution of such bubbles are not well understood and only empirically tested. In this paper, we present a mathematical theory of bubble dissolution that is verified by comparison with laboratory experiments. This theory suggests that the commonly employed treatment techniques would be only marginally effective, and that in many situations the bubbles that cause the disease cannot be adequately dissolved using existing techniques and facilities.