Have you ever wondered how your body behaves underwater?

Improving safety in scuba diving: Research on a new personalised dive computer.

The beauty and the resources offered by the deep waters have interested the general public since the commercialisation of the first open circuit scubas. Whether we’re speaking of scientific, professional or recreational diving, safety is one of the most intense research fields within scuba diving.

Understanding the behaviour of our body tissues (e.g. muscles, fat or bone marrow) during an immersion is vital in order to improve its safety. In particular, the nitrogen and oxygen saturation levels in these tissues can cause problems when the diver’s depth (and, therefore, the pressure undergone by the tissues) decreases quickly. Performing a correct ascent, i.e. controlling its pace and stopping at particular depths avoids these kind of problems. However, how do divers know where to stop and for how long?

Dive Computers

Dive computers estimate these parameters and show data like the immersion time and depth. Currently, however, no computer is able to measure real-time physiological data. In order to compute the safety curves and the decompression stops, computers use tables proposed by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). These tables are based on the combinations of times and depths that haven’t caused any accidents during an immersion. Since the same parameters are applied to a 6ft, 200lb person and to a 4,5ft, 100lb one, the suggested stops can’t guarantee safety for a 100% of the population.

A multidisciplinary team formed by scientists from the University of Zaragoza and the Sailing Living Lab Project are currently developing the prototype of a new dive computer that is able to measure the heartbeat rate and the oxygen and nitrogen saturation levels of the diver in a non-invasive way. This allows the computer to estimate personalised stop times, increasing the safety and the joy of the immersion.

Manuel Martín Bueno, PhD.

José Antonio Bea Cascarosa, PhD.

Penélope Vaquero García, PhD.

Nerea Soto Uriz