Corona discharge in anesthetic gases

Abstract

The goal of this work was to assess the feasibility of using corona discharge quenching by anesthetic gases as a technique for anesthetic gas concentration measurement. Two experiments were conducted to investigate corona discharge and measure changes due to anesthetic gases. Experiment One used a chamber in which a high voltage was imposed across two parallel plane electrodes, between which gases under test could flow. Halothane, ethrane, and nitrous oxide were shown to have corona discharge quenching effects proportional to their relative potency. In an attempt to improve accuracy and decrease baseline drift a second system was fabricated. This system used an improved voltage source, temperature and humidity control and a chamber in which gases flowed between two concentric cylindrical electrodes. Results from the second experiment showed that the complex physics of corona discharge quenching by anesthetic gases could not be easily used for reliable measurement of anesthetic gas concentrations.