Engineers that design oxygen therapy equipment face a challenge to create a product that is compact with optimum performance. Because patients are being diagnosed with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at younger ages, mobility is an important factor to promote an active lifestyle.
Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Portable Oxygen Concentrators (POC) are two main forms of oxygen therapy.
Liquid oxygen is stored in a compact tank at -300° and morphs into oxygenated gas when heated. LOX comes in various tank sizes and are fairly compact compared to other compressed oxygen options. Its size allows patients to carry several tanks and one L of LOX offers approximately 860 L of oxygenated gas. The downfall of LOX is that patients would have to eventually return home to refill the tanks and have a supplier refill the tanks once the home supply is exhausted.
POCs take surrounding air and filter the oxygen of certain elements, supplying the patient with 93% pure oxygen. POCs are becoming the common choice among users because it doesn’t require a storage reservoir of pressurized oxygen and is lighter than LOX. The concentrator can be powered by batteries, automobile adaptors or standard electricity. A recent improvement to POCs is improving its design to make it less unwieldy to aid mobility.
Parker develops industry-leading oxygen therapy solutions that are reliable, smaller, and lighter weight compared to other products. Parker has over 90 years of experience and over 3,000 product lines in nine technology markets.
Parker gives users the support they need to develop quality components and systems that meet mobility and performance challenges in areas such as:
- Respiratory care
- BioFluid management
- Surgical and diagnostic
- Preventive and recovery care
Through collaboration and partnership with Parker’s BioCare Business Unit, new standards are set for innovative products with accelerated speed to market without compromise.
Parker Hannifin
parker.com
