Some hospitals have hyperbaric chambers where patients breathe high-pressure air or oxygen. Hyperbaric therapy is often used when a patient's tissues or blood require higher-than-normal oxygen concentrations. It is effective in treating carbon monoxide poisoning and respiratory disorders, and is also promising in conjunction with surgery. Decompression techniques are used similarly to those used in deep-sea diving.
For inhalation therapy, clean dry air is positively pressured by a few inches of water to a respirator in a non-pressurized treatment chamber. Oil-free compressors are usually used to provide compressed air to hospitals. In an optional system for providing breathing air (which patients can use at home or in the hospital), oxygen-enriched air passes through a molecular sieve filter to remove nitrogen from the atmosphere. This oxygen concentration process can reach an oxygen concentration of 90% to 95%.
High-speed turbine-driven pneumatic surgical drills have exciting capabilities. In cranial surgery, it can reduce the time it takes surgeons to remove skull caps to two minutes, compared to half an hour using hand tools. It can also be used to cut transplanted chest cartilage to form a simulated artificial ear, and to shape grafted bone to reconstruct a badly damaged nose. Pneumatic drills are lightweight, yet they increase the speed and power of bone cutting, drilling, and shaping. Compressed air or nitrogen, which provides the power, is exhausted at the tip of the drill to cool the cutting area.
The devices that control the air conditioning and humidity in hospital operating rooms are powered by compressed air. Nurses use compressed air to clean catheters and other tubes, and to spray medications. Vacuums are used to remove blood and secretions during surgery when neither sponges nor sponges can provide a clean operating environment for surgeons. Operating rooms are pressurized to remove dust. Pneumatic doors in operating rooms are operated by foot pedals. Hospital laboratories, laundry rooms, and other maintenance departments also use compressed air in many ways.