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A hyperbaric chamber is an enclosed space or room in which atmospheric pressure and oxygen levels can be adjusted to provide a high-pressure, high-oxygen environment. Hyperbaric chambers have been used on deep-sea divers suffering from decompression sickness. They can also be used to treat certain medical conditions, including burns, wounds, or radiation injuries incurred by cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. In 2014, more than two thousand facilities in the United States were estimated to offer the treatment.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used in cases when a person’s red blood cells are compromised and fail to distribute oxygen throughout the body. This situation usually results in hypoxia, a condition in which the tissues are starved of the life-giving oxygen that they require.