eyes and arcs

eight weeks ago my medical practice partner suddenly lost sight--left eye

the detached retina was spot welded into place with cryo-therapy
then the eye doc injected a gas 6 times heavier than air--sulfur hexafluoride
48 hours of lying on tummy post op

it worked--colleague was back on job in 5 days

SF6 is interesting gas--used in big power transmission to snuff arcs in circuit breakers

arcs

big power circuit breakers use two functions to interrupt arc--
mechanical separation of contacts and dielectric fluid or gas medium introduction between contacts during distraction

sulfur hexafluoride is popular arc quencher

big power guys on this site will set us straight regarding this application

JHOLLAND1 said:

eight weeks ago my medical practice partner suddenly lost sight--left eye

the detached retina was spot welded into place with cryo-therapy
then the eye doc injected a gas 6 times heavier than air--sulfur hexafluoride
48 hours of lying on tummy post op

it worked--colleague was back on job in 5 days

SF6 is interesting gas--used in big power transmission to snuff arcs in circuit breakers

Click to expand...

My neighbor had that done to her eye. Looked at the floor for 2 days, but it worked!

1. How do you relieve yourself? How do you keep from rolling over in your sleep? (While laying face down for xx hours...)

2. How does the gas get cleared from the body?

SF6 is like the ULTIMATE greenhouse gas.

Well, if you're into that sort of thing.

It also allows about a 300 to 1 volumetric compression of a switchyard.

Interesting at Seabrook Station who had an SF6 switchyard - small motor driven compressors are used to keep the SF6 at (IIRC)a minimum of 70 psi in the switchgear. Before commercial operation, and possible operation of Auxiliary Diesel Generators we had station service coming down from Newington Station in Portsmouth, NH.

A concern with Hurricane Gloria (September 27, 1985) coming up the coast - what if station service is wiped out either by salting the highlines (common in hurricane coastal locations), or a larger issue with the New England Grid. And worse - what happens when power is restored and station service is restored - but the SF6 charge has been lost by inoperable charging pumps?

Taylor Rental to the rescue. 50KW on a portable trailer.

Fortunately we never needed it - and Gloria passed just to our west.

Joe in NH

Been there, had that done!
Not sure what gas they used, though.

I was really stupid the day after my surgery.
It had snowed a foot. I did not want the neighbors seeing me home and wife plowing, so I fired up the snowblower and did the driveway and around the mailbox. Doc had not told me to do anything special. Nurse called for follow-up and was shocked and appalled that I was outside walking. I got worried then. He did tell me it would take 3 - 4 months for eye to fill back up with fluid, which was more or less true. Wife went to friends in CA for a couple weeks. I could not fly due to pressure variables and stayed home.

Having the eyeball re-fill with fluid over several months is interesting as the sight comes back. It sloshes of course, with a clear level line and blurry below. Your eyeball inverts images onto the retina, and the brain accommodates so it comes out right side up. But internally, it looks like the eyeball is filling from the top down.

smt

My friend's son flipped his Sprint Car about 6 x in one crash. He was fine other than a detached retina. They fixed it and he is as good as new again. Medicine is expensive but worth it.