Home Care Medical Products

Oxygen Concentrators for Home Use

by len king on Mar 22, 2023

Oxygen Concentrators for Home Use
As technology advances and the population ages, more medical devices are coming into the home, which we can simply call home medical devices. Small oxygen concentrators fall into this category. As small oxygen concentrators are easy to use, simple to operate and light to move around. Therefore, more and more people who are recovering from surgery or have weak respiratory functions are using small oxygen concentrators at home, and even some high school students are using small oxygen concentrators in order to relieve their brain tension and to stay awake and calm during high intensity brain activities. The question that arises is how do we choose and use a home oxygen concentrator when there are so many different types of small oxygen concentrators?
(i) Name

  Often the names of home oxygen concentrators are relatively simple and straightforward, such as: small molecular sieve oxygen concentrators, medical oxygen concentrators, or even the name - oxygen concentrators.

(B) Working principle

  The use of molecular sieve physical adsorption and desorption technology, the air nitrogen adsorption, not absorbed oxygen through the molecular sieve, in the cold dry filtration and other purification process to achieve purity ≥ 90% (V / V) of oxygen.

  It can be said that the oxygen machine oxygen from the air, nitrogen released in the atmosphere, environmental protection, safety, inexhaustible ah.

(C) the structure and composition of the product

  Oxygen production equipment should generally include oxygen host, flowmeter and wetting device, oxygen suction tube or oxygen mask composition.

(IV) Applicable people

  1、Population susceptible to hypoxia: middle-aged and elderly people, pregnant women, post-operative rehabilitation personnel.

  2、Highland hypoxia disease, etc.

  3、Other people who work and study in a stressful way, such as brain workers, junior and senior high school students and other people preparing for examinations.

II. Product characteristics

Important indicators

  (1) Oxygen concentration: ≥90% (V/V);

  This is the most important performance indicator of the oxygen machine, the oxygen produced by the small molecular sieve for home use is generally ≥ 90% (V/V), the characteristics of the molecular sieve determine the oxygen concentration will not exceed 96%. Therefore, if in the choice of oxygen machine sales staff advocate oxygen concentration can reach 98% or even 99% or more, this is absolutely exaggerated propaganda behavior oh.

  (2) Oxygen production

  The flow rate of small molecular sieve oxygen concentrators is generally below 10L/min. For general household purposes, there is no need for an oxygen concentrator with an output of 10L/min. The general household users will not be critically ill, so a general output of 1-3L/min is sufficient.

(3) Noise

  The compressor of oxygen generating equipment is bound to bring a certain amount of noise, and patients using oxygen generally need to pay attention to rest and are relatively less energetic, so noise is a great source of disturbance at this time. Industry standards require that the noise level of oxygen concentrators should be no greater than 60dB (A), and when buying an oxygen concentrator for the actual family, choose one with as little noise as possible. This is another reason why we choose 1-3L/min oxygen concentrators.

(4) Odour

  For the average family, there is no professional testing equipment to detect whether the performance of the oxygen concentrator is in line with the oxygen concentrator, but we have a simple method, smell the smell of oxygen when inhaling oxygen, it should be odourless, if you feel that there is an odour, it means that there is a problem with the filter system of this oxygen concentrator or there is a certain leakage.

Cautions for use

(i) Sources of danger

  Before using, we need to understand the dangerous characteristics of the oxygen concentrator. As we have learned in the previous section on the principle of oxygen concentrators, oxygen concentrations of ≥90% (V/V) can be achieved from oxygen produced by oxygen concentrators. This means that during our oxygen intake, the oxygen content in a certain area around us is much higher than the oxygen content in the air. The higher the oxygen concentration, the lower the ignition point for combustible substances, which in layman's terms means - more likely to catch fire, and this this is the greatest danger of oxygen concentrators.

(ii) Precautions

  The use of any item may be accompanied by danger, but we believe that under normal circumstances, the products that are registered and manufactured have reduced this risk to an acceptable level, and under the premise of choosing a regular product, there are some precautions that we should take when using an oxygen concentrator.

  1) Keep away from fire and flammable items when using the oxygen concentrator, it is generally recommended to stay away from fire and flammable items for at least 1.6m.

  (2) As the oxygen of the oxygen concentrator comes from the air, when using the oxygen concentrator, the air inlet of the oxygen concentrator should be facing a relatively open space to avoid blocking the ventilation of the machine and to facilitate the absorption of better quality air.

  On the other hand, a more open environment can effectively reduce the temperature of the oxygen concentrator and reduce the risk of fire.

  3) The oxygen concentrator should be used with a wetting bottle, which should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before use, and the wetting water should be pure water or drinking distilled water if possible.

  (4) High concentration oxygen should not be inhaled for too long. It is best to use an oxygen concentrator with a timer function and choose intermittent oxygen intake to avoid oxygen toxicity.

  (5) Special patients or those who are not sure how to use the oxygen concentrator should consult a medical professional and use it under professional guidance.

  (6) It is impossible to reach 93% concentration immediately after the oxygen concentrator is switched on. You should avoid inhaling oxygen immediately after the machine is switched on and generally allow the machine to run for more than 15 minutes before inhaling oxygen so that both the machine and the oxygen concentration have reached stability.

(iii) Maintenance

  (1) Check the humidification tank of the small home oxygen concentrator regularly and pay attention to cleaning the dirt inside the humidification tank.

  (2) When the oxygen concentrator is not used for a long period of time, attention should be paid to running the machine for fifteen minutes on a regular basis, especially in the humid areas of the south.

  3) Check the air filter regularly, and pay attention to replacing it when it is mouldy or has a lot of impurities.

The contents of this introduction are for reference only and the actual use should be subject to the product manual.

1 comment

  • Peter Klocek
    May 03, 2023 at 12:31

    Unable to order or purchase replacement air filters for my machine HELP

    Reply

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