Many patients have been diagnosed with respiratory diseases that require specialized treatment. These treatments most often come in the form of oxygen therapy.
There are numerous studies that have shown that patients who have oxygen therapy live longer and have more active lives.
They can exercise more easily because more oxygen is getting to their muscles. The oxygen helps reverse the long term effects of oxygen deficiency on the heart.
It also helps reduce sleep disruption and improves memory and concentration.
Oxygen therapy comes from two devices. There are home oxygen concentrators that enable patients to receive their treatment from the comfort of their homes.
These oxygen machines allow them mobility from room to room, and with sufficient power outlets and tubes, patients can move all about their home as well as outdoors.
Most patients use their home oxygen concentrator for night time oxygen delivery.
For other oxygen therapy patients, they want to maintain a more active lifestyle, and this means getting out and about, traveling to see family and friends.
Some patients want to go out shopping, or undertake other activities like golf, gardening, or fishing.
And whenever they want to spend time away from home, a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) is a handy solution that gives them just that freedom.
For those who want to travel by plane, using liquid oxygen or oxygen tanks can be cumbersome and difficult to maneuver. They can also be a safety hazard.
Portable oxygen machines have been around for a long time. However, the earlier models were heavy, unreliable, and not permitted on airplanes.
Today's oxygen therapy patients can now travel by plane with a Federal Aviation Administration-approved (FAA) approved portable oxygen concentrator.
Currently, there are POC models available that now produce anywhere between one and 3 liters per minute (LPM) of oxygen while on continuous flow and some machines can go as high as a setting of 9 on pulse flow.
These portable oxygen concentrators weigh between 1.75 and 19.9 pounds.
Today's POCs also provide intelligent technology to help patients know if there are any problems with their units.
There are audible and visual alarms that measure low oxygen purity, overheating, low battery life, and any other issues.
POCs come with a variety of other uses. They can:
