COPD patients will experience varying degrees of lung function decline depending on the severity of the disease, and oxygen therapy is an extremely important treatment for COPD patients, especially home oxygen therapy, which cannot be ignored.

Long-term home oxygen therapy can improve or correct hypoxemia, help improve dyspnea, and have a beneficial effect on the patient's lung function, exercise endurance, sleep, and mental state. It can also significantly prolong the survival of COPD patients, reduce mortality, and reduce medical expenses (including the number of hospitalizations and days of hospitalization), thereby improving the quality of life.

In the past, we discussed whether COPD patients should choose a ventilator or an oxygen concentrator, how to correctly choose a ventilator, and the precautions for long-term oxygen therapy. I believe that everyone has a certain understanding of ventilators and oxygen concentrators, but everyone may still be confused about the purchase of oxygen concentrators. Below we will introduce it in detail to help everyone choose a suitable oxygen concentrator.

1. Choose the household & medical use oxygen concentrators

Oxygen concentrators on the market are divided into two types in terms of function: medical type and home type.

Although household oxygen concentrators can produce oxygen through molecular sieves and have multiple oxygen flow rates, strictly speaking, they are household appliances. The oxygen concentration is low and unstable, and the concentration is affected by the flow rate. The larger the flow rate, the lower the concentration. It cannot provide patients with oxygen therapy services that meet treatment standards.

Medical oxygen concentrators are products that have been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration and have obtained medical device approval documents. They are medical devices. They have strong oxygen production capacity, and the oxygen concentration is not affected by changes in oxygen flow. It can be constant at more than 90%, and can provide patients with high-quality oxygen therapy services outside the hospital.

Therefore, according to your own health status, it is recommended to purchase a medical oxygen concentrator when purchasing, and it is recommended to purchase an oxygen concentrator with ISO international and CE European quality system certification.

2. Look at the continuous oxygen supply

COPD patients receiving home oxygen therapy should ensure that they inhale oxygen for more than 15 hours a day and continuously inhale oxygen for 500 days. Only oxygen concentrators that can continuously supply medical-grade high-concentration oxygen 24 hours a day * 365 days can play a role in the treatment of COPD. Therefore, it is a necessary condition to be able to run continuously for 24 hours and provide a stable oxygen concentration for a long time.

3. Select flow rate

According to relevant research by the FDA, the amount of oxygen required by general users is approximately equivalent to 3 liters per minute at a concentration of 90%. It is recommended that users choose a large flow machine.

• For a 1-liter oxygen concentrator, the oxygen output concentration can only reach more than 90% when the oxygen output per minute is 1 liter.

• For a 3-liter oxygen concentrator, the oxygen output flow rate is selected to be 1~3 liters during oxygen inhalation, and the "oxygen output concentration" can be stabilized at more than 90%, reaching the medical grade standard. Although some 3-liter oxygen concentrators are advertised to be adjustable to 4 liters and 5 liters of oxygen output flow rate, the oxygen output concentration will still decrease if it exceeds the range of 3L.

• For a 5-liter oxygen concentrator, the oxygen output per minute is within 5L, and the oxygen concentration can reach more than 90% at any flow rate.

If a non-invasive ventilator needs to be connected to an oxygen concentrator, it is recommended to be equipped with an oxygen concentrator with at least 5 liters or more flow rate, which is more suitable.

4. Nebulizer function

This is an optional feature, and many domestic brands have this feature. If you are a patient with respiratory diseases such as COPD and asthma, you not only need oxygen production and oxygen inhalation to improve lung function, but also need nebulizer inhalation treatment at home. You can consider choosing an oxygen concentrator with a nebulizer function to make home treatment more convenient, which not only saves time for medical treatment, but also saves economic expenses.

In addition, the following factors can also be used as a reference:

1. When purchasing an oxygen concentrator, you should choose an oxygen concentrator/oxygen machine manufacturer with a long history and strong strength. After-sales maintenance and parts replacement of home oxygen concentrators are very important. Only manufacturers with a long brand can guarantee sustainable development and future maintenance services.

2. Oxygen concentrator has a cumulative timing function. It can count the service life of the oxygen machine in order to provide objective and accurate data for long-term maintenance and service in the future. The international standard requires that the oxygen concentrator is equipped with a cumulative timer, which is also a reflection of the quality of the product. The service life of a good oxygen concentrator should be guaranteed to be tens of thousands of hours.

3. Remote control is not a necessary function, and this function has certain risks in medical treatment.

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