HBOT Mechanisms — Interactive Diagrams

Click any element in the diagrams to see how hyperbaric oxygen therapy produces its therapeutic effects at the cellular level.

1. HIF-1α Stabilisation & Angiogenesis

HBOT paradoxically stabilises hypoxia-inducible factor 1α — the master switch for new blood vessel formation. Click each stage.

HBOT Session 2.0 ATA / 90 min PaO₂ > 1000 mmHg ROS Signal Controlled surge Hormetic stimulus HIF-1α stable PHD inhibited Nuclear transit VEGF → Angiogenesis New capillaries
Click a node above to see what happens at each stage.

2. Macrophage Polarisation (M1 → M2)

HBOT shifts chronically inflamed tissue from pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages to reparative M2 phenotype. Click each state.

M1 Inflammatory TNF-α · IL-6 · IL-1β HBOT 40 sessions NF-κB ↓ · IL-10 ↑ M2 Reparative TGF-β · IL-10
Click a node above to see each state.

3. Bubble Reduction — DCS & Arterial Gas Embolism

In emergency HBOT at 2.8 ATA (USN TT6), recompression shrinks gas bubbles and nitrogen washes out via dissolved oxygen gradient. Click each stage.

Pre-HBOT Compress to 2.8 ATA Volume ↓ by Boyle's Law ✓ Resolved Post-HBOT
Click a node above to see each stage.

4. Mitochondrial Biogenesis & Energy Rescue

Repeated HBOT upregulates PGC-1α and mitochondrial biogenesis — energy production in damaged neurons and chronic wounds recovers over the course.

Mt dysfunction ATP ↓ · Copy # ↓ Chronic injury state PGC-1α activation Mt DNA replication New mitochondria biogenesis ATP restored Repair capacity ↑ Recovery phase
Click a node above to see each stage.
Deep dive: For full mechanism references see Thom 2011 (Plast Reconstr Surg) and Hadanny & Efrati 2020 (Biomolecules). Both are indexed in our studies database.