Liquid breathing can not effectively protect the lung from biophysical forces associated with the gas ventilator. New application modes for PFC have been developed. Partial liquid ventilation (PLV) involves filling the lungs with a fluid. This fluid is perfluorocarbon, also called Liquivent or Perflubron. The liquid has some unique properties. It has a very low surface tension, similar to surfactant, a substance that is produced in the lungs to prevent the alveoli from collapsing and sticking together during exhalation. It also has a high density, oxygen readily diffuses through it, and it may have some anti-inflammatory properties. In PLV, the lungs are
Surface tension term surface energy, which is a more general term in the sense that it applies also to solids. In materials science, surface tension is used for either surface stress or surface energy. Due to the cohesive forces a molecule is pulled equally in every direction by neighboring liquid molecules, resulting in a net force of zero. The molecules at the surface do not have the "same" molecules on all sides of them and therefore are pulled inward. This creates some internal pressure and forces liquid surfaces to contract to the minimal area. The forces of attraction acting between the molecules