Portable Oxygen Systems - Tips To Help You Chose

There have been many interesting developments in portable oxygen systems these last few years that are helping thousands of people on oxygen therapy. Mobility is one of the most important things for those on oxygen therapy - as quality of lifestyle is directly affected when anyone is prescribed with supplemental oxygen.

Your choice of oxygen delivery unit will depend on various things.

Your oxygen prescription, the flow.
How often you receive oxygen.
The amount of activity.

It is a good idea that both you and your doctor define together the type of oxygen system you will use - his expertise and your own knowledge of your activity levels. Once you have your oxygen units you go through a process of learning to use it and adjusting. It usually doesn't take very long although it will vary between individuals. The thing is that once you get used to it, you will probably resist any changes, so it is always better to take your time before committing to a particular system or combination of oxygen delivery units.

The 3 Different Oxygen Delivery Systems: These three all have portable alternatives that are designed to help you be mobile and maintain your activity level.

1. POC's (Portable Oxygen Concentrators) - An oxygen concentrator is a machine, electrically powered, that extracts oxygen from ambient air, concentrates it at 100% and then delivers it to the patient either though a cannula or an oxygen mask (much like the other systems). The portable ones are smaller and lighter. As they are electrically powered this is by plugging into the wall socket (or car lighter adapter), as well as with rechargeable batteries. This versatility is making them very popular with the additional advantage that most brands are looking to increase the battery duration.
2. Portable Oxygen Cylinders - Perhaps the oldest type of oxygen delivery system. Pure oxygen is compressed and stored in aluminum cylinders. These cylinders come in various sizes (from 4 to 8.5 lbs in weight). Again the stored oxygen will last depending on the amount of oxygen that is delivered, but a general rule of thumb is that they last for shorter periods of time compared to the other systems. Note: Oxygen cylinders are refillable.
3. Portable Liquid Oxygen Tanks - Oxygen has the physical property of turning liquid at lower temperatures. Liquid oxygen tanks keep a reservoir of liquid oxygen (which by the way means a much greater amount of oxygen is stored than if kept in its gaseous state), which is then delivered at the appropriate setting as a gas (obviously the tank has a gas small gas storage part). There small units available that can deliver oxygen for many hours.

by Philip Robinson