Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.
1998 Jul;31(7):643-649.
Development and Animal Tests of Prototype Oxygen Concentrator
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 2Sogang University Instrument Engineering, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: For the patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring long-term oxygen therapy, oxygen concentrator machines are already widely available for use in home. In this study, we used mongrel dogs as test subjects to compare the functional efficiency and safety of the oxygen concentrator developed by our own research team with those of the imported FORLIFE (TM) machine made by AIRSEP Corp. Method and method: To test mechanical reliability, the concentrations of oxygen delivered were measured after 4 hours of continuous operation. Sixteen mongrel dogs were divided into two equal groups. Mongrel dogs in group A were given oxygen using the imported oxygen concentrator, and those in group B using the machine developed. 5 l/min of oxygen were given, after which vital signs were analyzed, arterial blood gases measured, and blood chemistry tests carried out. RESULTS: After 4 hours of continuous operation, the imported model performed better, giving 98+/-3% oxygen, compared to our model, which gave 91+/-1%. In the animal experiments, oxygen concentrations were measured at the inlet of face mask 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours after continuous administration, and there was no statistically significant difference (repeated measures of analysis of variance p=0.70) between the values of 70.6+/-2.5%, 67.1+/-2.9%, 68.2+/-2.6%, and 64.9+/-3.9% that were measured from group A, and the values of 65.1+/-4.8%, 65.2+/-3.6%, 68.7+/-4.3%, and 66.0+/-5.0% measured from group B. Before oxygen administration, and at 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours after oxygen administration, arterial blood partial pressure of oxygen 87.2+/-2.5 mmHg, 347.4+/-29.3 mmHg, 353.4+/-21.2 mmHg, 343.0+/-28.8 mmHg, and 321.6+/-24.4 mmHg, respectively, were read from group A, which were not statistically different (p=0.24) to the values of 102.5+/-9.6 mmHg, 300.3+/-17.1 mmHg, 321.6+/-23.7 mmHg, 303.4+/-27.4 mmHg, and 273.5+/-25.9 mmHg read from group B. Nonetheless, the arterial blood partial pressure of oxygen values appear to be somewhat higher in dogs that were given oxygen using the imported oxygen concentrator.
CONCLUSIONS
From these results the prototype oxygen concentrator developed appears to function relatively satisfactorily compared to the imported, established model, but may be criticized for the excessive noise generated and poor long-term endurance or consistency, which need improvement.
