Oxygen Diffusion from Capillary Layers with Concurrent Flow.

Oxygen transport from capillary layers with concurrent flow is considered for symmetric and asymmetric distributions of oxygen concentration between the layers. The analysis is based on the solution previously obtained by the author [1]. Solutions for the symmetric case are shown to be very close to the corresponding solutions of the Krogh cylinder model. Asymmetry in oxygen distribution is introduced systematically by considering different velocities of blood in the alternate capillary layers, different inlet capillary oxygen tensions, and different capillary hematocrits. It is shown that increase of the degree of asymmetry leads to diminution of the mean oxygen tension.