Amphibio: Development of a physical gill to enable humans to breathe underwater for longer (extension)

纵观历史，人类一直在挑战可能性的界限。值得注意的是，去年，法国发明家弗兰基·萨帕塔实现了个人飞行的梦想，他用装满煤油的背包驱动滑板飞越英吉利海峡。然而，当谈到水下呼吸时，大多数人只能在没有笨重而昂贵的生命维持设备的情况下存活几分钟。自给式水下呼吸器(Scuba)从高压压缩空气罐(S)提供呼吸空气/氧气，并将呼出的空气(通过调节器)排出到周围的海水中(以嘈杂和可见的气泡的形式)。与潜水系统相比，呼吸器提供了更长的潜水时间(在任何深度)，通过对呼出的空气进行再循环，清除二氧化碳，并从水箱中呼吸气体/氧气来补充空气。呼吸器提供无声、无气泡的潜水，主要用于专业潜水；例如，在科学研究和军事应用中。二氧化碳去除是呼吸器的关键步骤，依赖于一个装有苏打石灰的罐，称为洗涤器。苏打石灰可以从呼出的空气中吸收二氧化碳，但需要定期更换，大约每隔2-3个小时潜水一次。如果水与纯碱石灰接触，就会形成一种腐蚀性很强的液体，称为“苛性鸡尾酒”。这可能会对潜水员的面部和呼吸道造成严重伤害，甚至被证明是致命的。对于希望通过从海水中提取溶解氧来克服现有水下呼吸设备局限性的发明家来说，鳃是一种灵感。但是，人类面临的挑战是开发一种能够从海水中提取足够的氧气来支持呼吸的鳃。然而，鳃的概念有可能彻底改变现有的水下呼吸器。发明家龟井俊是一名设计师和材料科学家，他受呼吸空气的潜水昆虫和蜘蛛用来支持水下呼吸的物理鳃的启发，提出了一种能够让人类在水下呼吸更长时间的鳃的概念。他的初创公司Amphibio已经得到英国皇家艺术学院和国防与安全加速器的资助，完成了初步设计工作和实验室研究，验证了他正在申请专利的可穿戴式潜水方法的潜力。在英国Innovate的资助下，Amphibio将开发一种可以延长潜水时间的鳃，方法是取代呼吸器潜水系统中的二氧化碳洗涤器，同时用从海水中提取的溶解氧补充氧气罐供应。两栖生物的新方法有可能给水下人类生活带来革命性的变化。

Throughout history, humans have pushed the boundaries of possibility. Notably, last year, the dream of personal flight was achieved by French inventor Franky Zapata, who crossed the English Channel on a flyboard powered by a kerosene-filled backpack.Yet, when it comes to breathing underwater, most people can only survive for a few minutes without bulky and expensive life support equipment. Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) provides breathing air/oxygen from high-pressure compressed air tank(s) and expels exhaled air (through a regulator) into the surrounding seawater (as noisy and visible bubbles). Compared to SCUBA systems, rebreathers offer longer dive times (at any depth) by recirculating the exhaled air, removing the carbon dioxide, and replenishing the air with breathing gas/oxygen from a tank. Rebreathers provide silent, bubble-free diving and are predominantly used in professional diving; for example, in scientific research and military applications.Carbon dioxide removal is a critical step for rebreathers and relies on a canister containing soda lime, known as a scrubber. The soda lime absorbs carbon dioxide from the exhaled air, but requires regular replacement, approximately every 2-3 hours of diving time. If water comes into contact with the soda lime, a highly corrosive liquid is formed, known as a "caustic cocktail". This can cause significant injuries to a diver's face and airways and even prove fatal.Gills have proved an inspiration to inventors hoping to overcome the limitations of existing underwater breathing equipment by extracting dissolved oxygen from seawater. But, the challenge for humans is to develop a gill that is able to extract sufficient oxygen from seawater to support breathing.Nevertheless, the gill concept has the potential to revolutionise existing underwater breathing apparatus. Inventor Jun Kamei, a designer and material scientist, has developed a concept for a gill that will enable humans to breathe underwater for longer, inspired by the physical gills used to support underwater respiration by air-breathing diving insects and spiders. His start-up, Amphibio, has received funding from the Royal College of Art and the Defence and Security Accelerator to complete the initial design work and laboratory study, validating the potential of his patent-pending wearable gill approach.With funding from Innovate UK, Amphibio will develop a gill that can extend dive times by replacing the carbon dioxide scrubber in rebreather diving systems, while supplementing the oxygen-tank supply with dissolved oxygen extracted from seawater. Amphibio's novel approach has the potential to revolutionise human life underwater.