Many COPD patients may wonder how to choose the oxygen generator for long-term home oxygen therapy from healthcare and medical oxygen generators. In fact, they should choose medical oxygen generating systems for long-term home oxygen therapy.

Differences between healthcare and medical oxygen generators

You should first figure out the difference between the two types of oxygen generators.

Medical oxygen generators refer to the products that have obtained medical equipment production licenses and other relevant medical qualifications, meet therapeutic grade standards from specifications, and production processes, etc., and comply with the relevant regulations of the State Drug Administration: the oxygen production volume is not less than 3 liters per minute, and the concentration of the continuously output oxygen is not less than 90%.

However, there are no related requirements for healthcare oxygen generators, whose oxygen flow is  only 1 ~ 2L / min. Therefore, they may not be useful for COPD patients.

How to choose medical oxygen generator

The two currently accepted forms of long-term home oxygen therapy in the medical community are: general nasal catheter oxygen therapy and humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy.

General nasal catheter oxygen therapy is currently the most used in domestic households, relying on a single oxygen generator for treatment, which is deemed as simple, convenient and affordable.

Humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy has better results and is the most complete oxygen therapy modality available. It requires a single PSA oxygen generator connected with a high-flow respiratory humidifier for treatment, with precise oxygen concentration control, efficient humidification effect with heating and constant flow rate. In addition to ensuring precise oxygen therapy results, it can also provide patients with additional physiological effects, such as sputum removal, flushing of physiological dead space, and relief of mild carbon dioxide retention.

If you do not consider high-flow oxygen therapy, you can choose 3~5L oxygen generator to meet your treatment needs. However, considering that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive irreversible airflow limitation, that is, the lung function will continue to decline and the lack of oxygen will become more and more serious. Therefore, you’d better choose medical oxygen generating systems of at least 5L, or 8-10L, because you have to use high-flow oxygen therapy later to have better results, or you may need to connect the oxygen generator to a ventilator.