The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (IS OTT) was founded in 1973 as a scientific society providing a forum for bioengineers, basic scientists (physiologists, biochemists and physicists) and clinicians (including anesthesiologists, intensive care specialists, pediatricians, neonatologists, internists, surgeons and other specialists) to facilitate the exchange of scientific information among those interested in any aspect of the transport and/or utilization of oxygen in tissues. From the ranks of its members, many fundamental discoveries and inventions have been made involving the many aspects of oxygen transport and utilization by biological tissues. The ISOTT proceed ings, now in its 14th edition, has become a standard work in the field as witnessed by the inclusion in the Science Citation Index of all volumes published so far. The 19th ISOTT Meeting was held in Cura~ao from August 24th through August 30th, 1991. The Cura~ao Meeting attracted 145 registrants and 45 accompanying persons. The format originated by Dr. Ian Llngmuir in 1985, consisting of posters ac companied by an abbreviated oral summary, was again successfully handled with slight modifications. The meeting was introduced by 6 review lectures covering the whole field of oxygen transport from bioengineering, the problem of diffusion in lung, blood and tissue through pathology of oxygen uptake in the lung, oxygen supply dependency of the critically ill to artificial oxygen carriers. A special session dealt with oxygen sup ply under ambiant pressure changes.

Seventeen years after the 2nd International Symposium on Oxygen Transport to Tissue, which was held in Mainz in March 1975, the local Organizing Committee and the Board of ISOTT were pleased to host the ISOTT Conference in Mainz on the Rhine again. The venue of the 20th meeting was the prestigious, fully restored Schloss Waldthausen (Waldthausen Castle) which provided a special setting for ISOTT 1992. The beautiful front view of the castle became part of the ISOTT 1992 logo. The 20th ISOTT Meeting was held in Mainz from August 26th through August 30th, 1992. The Conference attracted 200 active participants from 16 countries. The theme of this meeting emphasized oxygen transport to tumors but as in earlier meetings, essentially all aspects of oxygen transport within the body were covered as demonstrated by the manuscripts comprising this volume of the series "Oxygen Transport to Tissue". All manuscripts were reviewed. Extensive revisions were made in about 25% and modest revision in about another 30%. Because we had to compromise between the aim of rapid publication on the one hand and the need for thorough review on the other, minor errors in format and some typographical errors were not corrected. Except for some revisions, all of the original camera-ready manuscripts in this volume were prepared by the authors themselves and we greatly appreciate their cooperation.

Since its inception in 1973, The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) has provided a unique forum to facilitate and encourage scientific interaction and debate. Welcoming scientists and clinicians from a broad spectrum of disciplines, each with their own particular skills and expertise, ISOTT unites them under the common theme of oxygen transport. The successful blend of scientific presentations and informal discussion which characterizes ISOTT is epitomized best by the many fundamental discoveries and technical advancements which it has spawned. The breadth and strengths of The Society's scientific base promotes the rapid progression of ideas from theoretical concepts to rigorous scientific testing and often, ultimately to the clinical arena. Each publication of the ISOTT proceedings has been recognized by Science Citation Index listing and the papers frequently establish scientific precedents and become considered as standard works in their respective fields. The 21st ISOTT Meeting was held in San Diego from August 14th through August 18th, 1993. The San Diego Meeting attracted about 150 registrants and 40 accompanying persons. Ten state-of-the-art lectures were presented by international experts in ~ transport and there were in addition two symposia -one dealing with assessment of tissue hypoxia and the other with functional heterogeneity in different organ systems. There were 100 free communications, consisting of posters accompanied by an abbreviated oral summary. All manuscripts were reviewed by the Editors for form and content, but as is customary for the ISOTT proceedings, rigorous scientific peer review was not undertaken.

''In addition to a wide variety of traditional oxygen transport topics, particular areas have been selected for emphasis at the 1997 meeting, which are: Molecular and genetic techniques to study oxygen transport in health and disease Angiogenesis during hypoxia, ischemia, and development Physiological mechanisms of oxygen sensing Physiological fluctuations of cerebral blood flow, metabolism and oxygenation Near infrared and phsophorescence techniques for the assessment of blood and tissue oxygenation Advances in biotechnology of anticoagulants and blood substitutes. '' (excerpted from the Preface).

The 23rd annual meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue took place from August 23-27, 1995, at the Station Square Sheraton along the shores of the Monongahela River where it meets with the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to form the "Point" of the city of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was a convenient location for the meeting be ing between both the East and West coasts of the United States and between the Asian and European continents. It is easily accessible by air via its large international airport. In ad dition, Pittsburgh has just recently undergone a transition from the steel mills and indus tries of old to an age of computers and biotechnology as evidenced by the new Biotechnology Center of the University of Pittsburgh where a lunch and tour were pro vided for interested participants. On the tour, the participants got to see the mix of projects ranging from molecular biology to clinical projects studying membrane oxygenators, ven tricular assist devices, oxygen carriers, and more, representing the forefront of research on oxygen delivery systems to tissue.

nd The 22 meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (LS. O. T. T. ) of which this volume is the scientific proceedings, was held in Istanbul, Turkey on August 22-26, 1994. It was a historical occasion in that it was almost 200 years to the day that one of the founding fathers of oxygen research, Antoine Lavoisier, on May 8, 1794 found his early demise at the hands of the guillotine. This spirit of history set the tone of the conference and in the opening lecture the contribution that this part of the world has given to the understanding of oxygen transport to tissue was highlighted. In particular, the contribution of Galen of Pergamon (129-200) was discussed who for the first time demon strated that blood flowed through the arteries and whose view on the physiology of the circulation dominated the ancient world for well over a millennium. A forgotten chapter in the history of the circulation of the blood is the contribution made by Ibn al Nafis of Damascus (1210-1280) who for the first time described the importance of the pulmonary circulation by stating that all venous blood entering the right ventricle ofthe heart passes to the left ventricle, not through pores in the septum of the heart as had been postulated by Galen, but through the circulation of the lungs.

The International Societyon Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) was founded in 1973 "to facilitate the exchange of scientific information among those interested in any aspect of the transport and/or utilization of oxygen in tissues". Its members span virtually all disciplines, extending from various branches of clinical medicine such as anesthesiology, ophthalmology and surgery through the basic medical sciences of physiology and biochemistry to most branches ofthe physical sciences and engineering. The eighteenth annual meeting of ISOTT was held in 1990 for four days, from July 19 to 22, in the Sheraton Hotel in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The usual ISOTT format, which was originated in 1985 by Dr. Ian Longmuir, was continued. Almost all presentations were posters with an accompanying, scheduled, brief, slide presentation and discussion. All posters remained in place for the entire four days of the meeting. There were no simultaneous sessions. Essentially all aspects of physiological transport were covered at this meeting with possibly somewhat more emphasis on methods and instrumentation. The editors gratefully acknowledge the photographic skills of Dr. Jens Hoper who took the group picture during the outing to Magnetic Island on July 21. We are also most grateful to Dr. Rod D. Braun of Evanston for his invaluable editorial assistance. This volume is the thirteenth in the Plenum series Oxygen Transport to Tissue.