Everyday life changes when you need supplemental oxygen on a regular basis. As such, portable oxygen concentrators are life-saving and life-changing little machines. “People with emphysema or COPD need oxygen,” says Kimberly Langdon, M.D., Ohio-based physician, and VP of product development and research at Physician Integrative Laboratories. “COPD is generally from tobacco and cigarettes. Any pulmonary disease such as pleural effusions from cancer may need to be on oxygen. Pulmonary hypertension is another reason.”
For these conditions and anyone who requires medical oxygen, portable oxygen concentrators are the answer. They give you the freedom and independence to do as you please, all while breathing in the oxygen-rich air you need.
For the unfamiliar, oxygen concentrators work by pulling air in through a filter and compressing it into one of two zeolite towers. “It's a way to extract oxygen from the air and remove the nitrogen so that the concentration of oxygen is higher than ambient air which is 21%,” says Dr. Langdon. “These are safer than traditional pressurized oxygen tanks and more economical and convenient—easier to transport because they aren’t as bulky or heavy.”
Dr. Langdon explains that normally, the air around you is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases.1
However, after passing through an oxygen concentrator, which separates and filters out the nitrogen, what comes out is oxygen at a much higher concentration (up to 95%).
What’s more, units can hook into a DC jack and be used in the car for easy breathing on road trips and the best even offer hours of oxygen concentrating power on one battery charge. That portability is key, according to doctors. “Weight of the machine, length of time it can go without needing to be recharged,” are all important factors to consider according to Dr. Langdon.
