What is the Price of an oxygen concentrator in India?   

Oxygen concentrators are home healthcare devices used to provide extra oxygen to patients. Oxygen concentrators take oxygen from the environment, remove nitrogen, and provide the purest form of oxygen. This pure oxygen is supplied to the patients through mouth tubing/nasal cannula attached to oxygen concentrators.    

Many unfamiliar people mistake oxygen cylinders for oxygen concentrators. Oxygen cylinder is machinery used only in hospital setups as they are heavy and not portable. Also, oxygen cylinders are used for patients who have severe breathing complications.    

But Oxygen Concentrators are portable, easy to use and ideal for at-home uses. Oxygen concentrators helped many patients recover and provided medical support during COVID-19.    

Types of oxygen concentrators.  

1. Stationary Concentrators (Home Concentrators). 

Stationary concentrators are ideal for home use as they are heavy. Stationary oxygen concentrators provide a continuous flow of oxygen.    

The common differentiators of oxygen concentrators:   

• Size: Heavy and Large – 15 to 18 kg. 

• Oxygen Flow Rate: 3 to 10 liters of oxygen per minute. 

• Portability: Ideal for home use only. Concentrators come with attached wheels to move them indoors.    

• Durability: Higher durability.  

• Who can use: Patients that require a higher flow of oxygen per minute. 

• Working: Runs on the power supply. 

2. Portable Concentrators  

Portable oxygen concentrators are ideal outdoors and provide a limited oxygen supply.    

• Size: Small.   

• Oxygen Flow Rate: 1 to 5 litres of oxygen per minute. 

• Portability: Ideal for outdoors. Portable Concentrators can be carried from one place to other with few conditions.    

• Durability: Up to 3 years. 

• Who can use: Ideal for those who necessarily include travelling in their routine and needs less oxygen flow per minute.   

• Working: Battery-led / Rechargeable batteries. 

• Flow rate capacity of an oxygen concentrator. 

The Price of the oxygen concentrator  

The Price of the oxygen concentrator is highly dependent on the model, features, quality and size. To make it easy for you to understand, here is the list of the Price of oxygen concentrators according to their size.   

What are the features of a good oxygen concentrator?  

• The flow rate of the oxygen concentrator:   

The flow rate of the oxygen concentrator is the amount of oxygen supplied by the concentrator per minute. The flow rate of the oxygen concentrator depends on its size.    

• 10 liters oxygen concentrator supplies 1-10 Lt oxygen per minute,    

• 5 liters of oxygen concentrator provides 1-5 Lt oxygen per minute.    

• Portable and small oxygen concentrators offer 1-2 Lt oxygen per minute.    

The oxygen flow rate should be decided on the severity of breathing complications. Doctors suggest the flow rate required for a patient according to their medical conditions.    

• Oxygen purity level  

When the oxygen concentrator takes air from the environment, removes nitrogen, and provides purified air, the purity of the air differs from one manufacturer to another.   

The purity depends from 83% to 93%. The low-quality models do not guarantee a higher percentage of purified oxygen. Hence it is recommended to research the manufacturer and confirm the purity level of the oxygen supplied before initiating the purchase.     

• Alarm Sensors  

Alarm sensors are an essential feature of oxygen concentrators. Alarm sensors for Low Oxygen purity, Low pressure, Power Outage, Overheating of Machine, and High/low voltage help in easy and informed monitoring of the patients. The feature of Alarm Sensors depends from one manufacturer to the other.    

The presence of these alarm sensors helps the caretaker to monitor the functioning of the oxygen concentrator. Hence before making a purchase, it is recommended to check these features with the manufacturer.    

• Bacteria filter   

The purpose of the oxygen concentrator is to supply the purest form of oxygen to the needy to avoid breathing complications. With low-quality oxygen concentrators, there comes a huge risk of buying an oxygen concentrator with low-grade bacteria filtering system.   

Hence it is essential to choose a Five-stage filter system that keeps away most of impurity, bacteria and PM (particulate matter) 2.5 microns.   

• Noise Reduction Technology  

Efficient noise reduction technology is essential as the patient will continuously use an oxygen concentrator, and the noise causes too much disturbance, especially at night. Many patients find the noise of an oxygen concentrator irritating; sometimes, this leads to headaches and discomfort.    

Low-quality oxygen concentrators do not use quality noise reduction technology, and they outlet more than 50db sound. Hence it is recommended to check if your oxygen concentrator has a quality inbuilt noise reduction process that gives increased comfort and relaxation to the patient.    

Conclusion:   

The features of an oxygen concentrator depend on the quality, Price, and manufacturer. If you compromise on the oxygen concentrator's Price, you will buy low-quality products. Oxygen concentrators are a medical device that significantly helps cope with breathing complications. Your decision to buy an oxygen concentrator will directly affect a patient's health. Hence it is recommended to buy home healthcare devices from an authentic manufacturer.