Spec Gas- The Eyes Have It

The gases business has an incredibly broad reach into industry and medicine. Visits to gas producer web sites can be real eye openers. A little blip viewed yesterday referenced perfluoropropane. Do you already know all about it and what it is used for?

Would you believe it is used as a tool in pneumatic retinopexy?

This is a surgery used for repair of some retinal detachments. According to http://www.webmd.com/, “It uses a bubble of gas to push the retina against the wall of the eye, allowing fluid to be pumped out from beneath the retina. It is usually an outpatient procedure done with local anesthesia.” Full healing and recovery takes weeks, but the gas is eventually absorbed into the body.

And why do we care?

Mostly, we care from a big picture stand point. Specifically, most of us are widely unaware of the amount of specialty gas products produced by U.S. manufacturers and shipped all over the world. Take a peek sometime and you’ll find an amazing volume of specifications for these products related to purity and product consistency. This applies to both Healthcare and Industrial applications where tiny variables can make a huge difference. Personally, I’m thankful for the chemists, scientists, engineers and techs who work quietly everyday in relative obscurity doing things that make our lives better.