222 total body water. Rapid mixing of tritiated water throughout all compartments occurs during a 3 to 4 hour equilibration period. Tritium oxide tho is used because it is a weak beta emitter making it easy to measure in a liquid scintillation counter. If the amount of the substance is known and the resulting concentration is measured the volume can be calculated. 20150921 fluid compartments regulation of ecf volume fluid replacement duration. This is estimated by measuring the volume of distribution of isotopes of water.
Total body water is 60 of body weight and is divided into various body fluid compartments. Extracellular fluid compartment further. Body fluid compartments can be measured by dilution of a compound that distributes only in the space of interest. The intracellular fluid icf compartment is the system that includes all fluid enclosed in cells by their plasma membranes. Measuring total body water with radiolabelled tritium. Body fluids can be discussed in terms of their specific fluid compartment a location that is largely separate from another compartment by some form of a physical barrier.
If one were that way inclined one could also go on to read this indepth article by shoeller etal from 1980 full of thick juicy physiology. The indicator dilution principle is based on the definition of a concentration. So simple one can describe it using only pictures. Not prone to changing the distribution of fluid between compartments. These include intracellular fluid and extracellular fluid. University of kentucky department of anesthesiology 5062 views 2943.