Many people have spent years dragging an oxygen tank behind them. Their respiratory health has required a source of oxygen that is more pure than what a person can get from the air itself. Tanks have been placed on wheels and travel along with the person who needs them.
However, there is a better way for many. That option is the portable oxygen concentrator. Instead of gathering oxygen into a tank at a fixed location, the portable oxygen concentrator works to create high concentration oxygen from the air around it. Then that air is breathable by the person using it. It’s a convenient way to breathe high quality fresh oxygen anywhere!
How it Works
The natural atmosphere is around 20% oxygen depending on altitude. This isn’t enough for people with respiratory conditions and problems. A portable oxygen concentrator technically doesn’t “concentrate” the oxygen. What it does is eliminate the nitrogen from the air it takes in. While not all nitrogen can be removed, the resulting mixture is up to 95% total oxygen.
Since portable oxygen concentrators are almost always working, they need to run off some kind of power. When stationary, they can be plugged into an outlet and run. However, to make them portable, they primarily run on batteries. These batteries can be recharged each time a person becomes stationary. Typically the bigger the battery, the longer the battery will last. When plugged in, these batteries will charge up. Replacement batteries can also be purchased if the battery packs that come with the devices stop charging. This happens to all rechargeable batteries eventually, but they can last for quite a long time before the issue is significant.
Popular Brands for Sale
There are many potential providers of medical equipment which have chosen to make portable oxygen concentrators. These brands are all slightly different, while providing the same product. Some excel at lightweight machines, others are a better price, while still others offer great warranty or support. Some of the most popular brands of portable oxygen concentrators include:
- CAIRE, Inc. - Caire makes 4 different oxygen concentrators and arguably the largest product of oxygen therapy systems. Their Wearable Focus model weighs under 2 pounds and costs around $1,500. The battery life on that model is a bit light, lasting around 3 hours. The Freestyle Family model is larger, but the battery can last for 7 hours.
- Invacare - Invacare’s portable oxygen concentrator is known as the Platinum MObil model. Unlike some other types, this model manages to strike a good balance of weight, battery life and price. It starts around $2,200, weighs under 5 pounds and has a battery life of over 5 hours in ideal conditions.
- Inogen - This company produces the Inogen One G2 portable oxygen concentrator. They also create the larger G3 and G4 models not as well. Inogen is one of the leading names and has one of the most impressive warranties (lifetime) on their products.
- ResMed - ResMed has the Mobi portable oxygen concentrator. This option has excellent pulse technology for optimizing the oxygen concentrated. In addition, the battery tends to have the largest life of almost any option. The Mobi can last up to 13 hours under ideal conditions.
- Philips Respironics - This company offers two options. The SimplyGo is a portable option weighing around 10 pounds, but it has an immense number of flow settings, so the right amount of oxygen is always getting through. The SimplyGo Mini is a smaller 5 pound wearable option.