Portable oxygen machines and specially portable oxygen concentrators have changed just how many people, who must have continuous or semi continuous oxygen therapy, are actually living.
It used to be that mobility for COPD patients was severely restricted. This meant being house bound or overly dependent on a hospital or clinic.
With the advent of much more practical and better quality portable machines, patients mobility has increased dramatically and you will now find people on supplemental oxygen doing a lot of things they wouldn't have imagined just a few years ago.
This has happened due to new portable tanks, due to more advanced conserving devices (that regulate the delivery rates) and, possibly the most important reason of most - the introduction of portable oxygen concentrators.
Home page is a machine that extracts oxygen from the surrounding air, it concentrates it and then delivers it - right to the patient (in a house concentrator machine it is also used to refill an oxygen cylinder). At sea level and when air pollution isn't a concern, ambient air comprises approximately 21% oxygen, 88% nitrogen and a reduced amount of various gases. The oxygen concentrator extracts oxygen, concentrates it and delivers it to the individual.
Things You Need To Know:
You need a power source to operate, which can be both with rechargeable batteries and a plug in option (including for vehicle).
There exists a continuous rumble from the concentrators motor.
It is possible to adjust the flow level according to your prescription.
There are the latest models of with different weights the give enable your mobility.
Always check your battery durability so when a safety precaution you should have an extra and charged battery.
Portable oxygen concentrators arrived on the scene around 2002 and since then have had an excellent impact in the portable oxygen delivery area.
The major difference between an oxygen concentrator and an oxygen cylinder or tank, is that the concentrator is not a storage device but a supplier of oxygen. Which means that so long as the power source is uninterrupted, oxygen will still be delivered so long as needed. In a tank there will be the limitation using the amount of oxygen that is stored, whether liquid or gas.
The brand new designs have both a direct plug in option (so that you can plug them in cars, for instance) and being battery operated. They are smaller, lighter and for that reason easier to carry and have a primary and positive effect on peoples mobility.
It seems as though each new model is smaller and has longer lasting rechargeable batteries.
An important benefit is that they have increased the possibility of travel for patients on extra oxygen, and actually one of the most important aspects of that is that by May, 2009, the FAA authorized the use of some portable oxygen concentrators on board airlines that cross US airspace (this implies all arriving and departing flights). This change is of great consequence as flights was a major problem. It is still, however, a good idea to consult with your airline before a flight.
Although living and needing to be determined by Discover more here isn't something anyone would willingly elect to do, POC's (portable oxygen concentrators) have really changed people's lives. The much greater selection of activities that can now be practiced, together with increased mobility in general, have had an extremely positive impact on long term oxygen therapy patients.