Oxygen Concentrators: Portable Oxygen Concentrators

Oxygen therapy is an essential treatment option for patients suffering from a number of respiratory diseases like COPD. Scientists have thought up different ways of solving this problem and have finally come up with two technical solutions for long-term oxygen treatment – portable oxygen concentrators and liquid oxygen tanks. Long-term oxygen treatment is said to be oxygen therapy that lasts for more than 15 hours a day. When you come to think of it, that is a lot of help to any patient.

Portable oxygen concentrators are machines that provide supplemental oxygen to a patient by compressing atmospheric air to almost 4 atmospheres of pressure and by trapping nitrogen out of this compressed air. This makes the oxygen in the compressed air more concentrated. The machine is indeed expensive but when you take into consideration the fact that you are literally receiving free air supply, its worth it isn’t it?

Today’s innovative oxygen concentrators offer a high level of convenience and mobility, which was unheard of a couple of years back. Liquid oxygen and compressed systems require cylinders that are large and have to be refilled and stored or handled with care. Oxygen concentrators can be simply plugged into any electrical outlet.

Some interesting features of portable oxygen concentrators are: rechargeable batteries and they can be plugged into any car’s accessory outlet for convenience.

The Uses of Portable Oxygen Concentrators and how they can Benefit You

Those suffering from a number of health problems might require supplemental oxygen as part of their treatment protocol. There are essentially three basic methods to receive oxygen, namely through liquid oxygen tanks, compressed oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators. Portable oxygen concentrators have a number of uses and benefits, which include issues like use, storage, travel and safety. Here are some of the uses of portable oxygen concentrators:

• Uses – The biggest advantage of a portable oxygen concentrator is its use. User friendly and easy to use, these systems are simply plugged into a basic electrical outlet. Most other systems like liquid oxygen tanks require large tanks, which are very heavy and are not designed to be portable.
• Storage Purposes – Unlike compressed and liquid oxygen systems that require large cylinders to be stored in, Portable oxygen concentrators are easy to store. These systems don’t need special storage facilities so you don’t have to bother about finding a safe place to keep it in.
• Travel – Some portable concentrators can be plugged into your car’s accessory outlet and come with special features like rechargeable batteries. But, if you are traveling by plane, you wont be allowed to carry compressed tanks as they are classified as hazardous to health. Some portable oxygen concentrators have been approved by the FAA, making it possible to carry your system with you on your flight.
• Delivery – Compressed and liquid oxygen systems tanks need to be refilled. It is not possible to get these refilled by yourself, so they need to be delivered from an equipment store. This can be highly inconvenient, as there are set schedules involved. A portable oxygen concentrator on the other hand, does not require these tanks so there is no need to wait for delivery.
• Safety – The pressure that compressed oxygen tanks are under is very high. So, they have to be handled with extreme care all the time. A portable oxygen concentrator does not have any of these safety hazards.

These are just a few of the benefits of using a portable oxygen concentrator. With these systems, there is no need to worry about storing these hazardous tanks in your house.