Recently due to the rapid rise of coronavirus cases in India, there is a huge hit on the efficiency of the healthcare sector. Many hospitals are facing difficulty in providing medical aid to everyone and suggest those who aren’t critical try and self treat at home. In the midst of this chaos, we have seen the sudden rise in the popularity of Oxygen Concentrators. As Covid-19 care essentials have become so necessary we have to adopt using them in our daily lives. Starting from masks, sanitizers, oximeters etc, these have now become part and parcel of our life and living. Similarly, oxygen concentrators thus have become critical in treating breathing problems of Covid patients. Because it is a piece of advanced medical equipment, not much is known about it to the layman. This article is going to answer what oxygen concentrators are, how they work, and the process of getting one for yourself at home.
What is an Oxygen Concentrator?
As the name itself suggests, an Oxygen Concentrator increases or concentrates the amount of oxygen in the surroundings. Our body needs a certain amount of oxygen in order to operate. The ambient air around us is mostly nitrogen with only 21 percent of it being useful oxygen. It is our lungs that filter out the other gases and pass pure oxygen into the bloodstream. The amount of oxygen entering the body is called the oxygen saturation level, and when it starts going below a certain point, loss of bodily functions is seen. You may experience breathlessness, weakness, and these symptoms may also lead to fatal heart attacks or respiratory collapse.
Medical oxygen concentrators are able to take air from the environment and concentrate it to a much greater percentage for the patient to ingest. A highly concentrated dose of oxygen helps lower the burden on the diseased or failing lungs and thus more oxygen is able to be passed into the body to support life functions. The best feature of such oxygen concentrators is that they do not rely on any external resources and only convert the ambient air in our surroundings. These can also be run for long periods of time for several days, without running out.
How do they work?
The basic process of an Oxygen concentrator is to suck in the atmospheric air and to filter out the nitrogen from using various methods, leaving only a highly oxygen-rich gas. Oxygen concentrators can achieve this via two methods.
The first is Pressure Swing Adsorption, where a molecular sieve is used to separate the nitrogen. The air is passed through a sieve that is coated with zeolite. Zeolite is a material that attracts nitrogen particles and sticks to them. This means, as the air keeps passing through the machine, the oxygen keeps passing on, while the nitrogen is stuck to the zeolite particles and is filtered out. It is a very economical and efficient process for home and healthcare applications.
The second method, Membrane Gas Separation, is a very simple method where the air passes through multiple membranes. These membranes are designed on a microscopic level to only let oxygen through. The nitrogen and other gases eventually get filtered out through the membranes after multiple passes.
After the oxygen concentrator has converted the air, we get a constant stream of gas that is 90-95% pure oxygen. This concentrated oxygen can then be supplied to a patient via a breathing mask.
Using an Oxygen Concentrator at home:
If in any unfortunate scenario, one finds that a patient is suffering from low oxygen saturation and has to be isolated at home, based on the severity of their breathing, oxygen concentrators can be used. Oxygen concentrators can be used if the oxygen saturation levels fall up to 85%. Any more than that, then you will have to shift to denser alternatives of oxygen such as liquid medical oxygen.
Having the knowledge of operating an Oxygen concentrator is very important. As hospitals have very limited resources, they have to allocate them to patients who are fatally ill and require intensive care. For those featuring moderate or mild breathing difficulties, all medical professionals are suggesting home treatment. Not only will this act as a form of isolation for the virus to not spread further from the patient, but also lower the caseload of the hospitals.
The process is very simple, first, connect the oxygen concentrator to a source of power and turn it on. Then attach a bottle of distilled water as per the liters of oxygen required. Lastly, you can administer the oxygen to the patient through a nasal cannula or a face mask. Just connect the plugs to the oxygen concentrator and it will automatically start pumping the oxygen through the pipes and into the patient’s respiratory system.
Is Oxygen Concentrator useful for COVID Patients?
This is definitely a very widely asked question. The simple answer to this question is a definite yes. For anyone who starts facing trouble breathing due to COVID-19, it is necessary to provide them the required oxygen, or else the functioning of their body will suffer. The threshold of applying concentrated oxygen is when the oxygen saturation falls below 95%. This kind of fall in oxygen is one of the most common symptoms of Covid and can affect people with various degrees of fatality. Oxygen concentrators can treat patients to a certain extent. However, if in any case, the oxygen falls below 85% you must seek professional medical help at a hospital as oxygen concentrators cannot keep up beyond that point.
How to buy Oxygen Concentrators?
Oxygen concentrators are very high in demand and are also being sold for marked-up prices. Some of the best oxygen concentrators are produced by companies such as Philips Invacare, Inogen, and BPL Medical Technologies. Oxygen concentrators are also available for purchase at medical stores, however, there is a high chance of them running out of stock due to the extremely high demand from homes and hospitals.
In conclusion, oxygen concentrators have become one of the most critical objects right now. Their ability to save the life of COVID-19 patients at a time when the country is afflicted with so many cases makes them a very important medical product for everyone to have in case of emergencies.