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 of the 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.