What is an oxygen concentrator? Although it’s a fairly complicated piece of machinery, its purpose is quite simple.
What is an Oxygen Concentrator & What Does it Do?
Plainly put, it takes normal, ambient air and removes nitrogen from it in order to create a supply of concentrated oxygen.
How an Oxygen Concentrator Works
We won’t go too deep into the technical details but, in essence, an oxygen concentrator takes in air from the surroundings and then uses the process of adsorption to draw the nitrogen out of the mix into zeolite crystals. The nitrogen is then vented, while the oxygen, together with the other gases that exist in trace amounts in air, is allowed to pass through to a patient. What the patient breathes in is a gas with an extremely high concentration of oxygen.
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What an Oxygen Concentrator is Used for
Oxygen concentrators can be used in hospitals or at home to supply oxygen rapidly and in high concentrations. They are generally used as alternatives to pressurised cylinders of cryogenic oxygen because they are cheaper and more mobile. Unlike these other devices, they also don’t contain a finite supply of gas and thus do not need to be replaced or refilled.
Concentrators are also more useful than cylinders in certain fields, such as military or emergency situations outside of hospitals and homes. Oxygen cylinders are prone to be very dangerous if ruptured or leaking, as they can cause or exacerbate fires. Concentrators do not present this particular risk.
Concentrators are prescribed for use by sufferers of chronic and acute lung diseases, as well as any other patients with low levels of oxygen in their blood. On the whole, they provide a convenient, mobile and cost-effective solution for the supply of concentrated oxygen.
Diseases that Oxygen Concentrators are Used to Treat
Oxygen concentrators are used to supply oxygen to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), for chronic hypoxemia and pulmonary oedema. They have also been known to be prescribed for the treatment of sleep apnoea. Although many models are mobile, they tend to be used mostly as stationary oxygen sources for patients taking long-term bed rest.
Find Quality Oxygen Concentrators & More at Glenmed
Glenmed supplies a number of brands and models of these useful devices. Contact us today to learn more about our company or to order one for your hospital or nursing home, or even for use by yourself or a member of your family in your home.