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 under tension from the imbalanced forces, which is probably where the term "surface tension" came from. Because of the relatively high attraction of water molecules for each other through a web of hydrogen bonds, water has a higher surface tension (72.8 millinewtons per meter at 20 °C) compared to that of most other liquids. Surface tension is an important factor in the phenomenon of capillarity. Surface tension has the dimension of force per unit length, or of energy per unit area. The two are equivalent, but when referring to energy per unit of area, it is common to use the