Choosing the Right Portable Oxygen Concentrator for You

• Posted on 12 August 2022
• By Tristan Mitzel
• Posted in Buyers Guide, Inogen One, Oxygen Conentrators, Oxygen Therapy, POCs
• 8

Need help navigating the market for POCs? Whether its Inogen, Respironics, or Precision Medical, we're here to help you determine what is important for you and pick the right portable oxygen machine.

What is the Best POC to Buy? 

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Introduction

Patients that are prescribed oxygen therapy are likely to find at one point or another that their home concentrator isn’t going to cut it when they want to finally get away from their house. Home concentrators are great for their reliability and ability to make high doses of O2. Yet even a 50 foot connector hose isn’t going to be much help when you need to go get groceries.

Portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) were first produced to bridge the gap between home and outside life. Today the technology has progressed to the point where some patients may not need their home concentrator at all. Although this is reliant on the patient choosing a suitable POC that is certified for 24/7 usage. A machine that isn’t specifically intended for 24/7 use should never be used as an all-day machine.

Picking the right Portable Oxygen Machine for your needs can be daunting. You can’t just walk into a store, ask “What’s the best portable oxygen concentrator for me?” and get a simple answer. It will depend on a variety of factors. In this guide we’ll explain the important things you will want to keep in mind when picking a machine. We always recommend meeting with your doctor when you decide that you want a POC. They will provide you important guidance and we will need their prescribed orders to get the machine that’ll meet your needs.

Pulse Dose vs Continuous Dose

Continuous dose means that your POC will always be producing oxygen. It ignores how much or when you are breathing in favor of a constant flow. Pulse dose, by contrast, will rely on a sophisticated set of sensors to determine when you are breathing and adequately supply oxygen.

Inogen explains their pulse-dose technology compared to standard continuous-dose:

“Pulse dose oxygen is more sophisticated [than continuous]. Pulse dose mechanisms are more sensitive, utilizing an oxygen conserver and other technology to deliver oxygen to the patient based on breathing rate and other factors. Pulse dosing is more akin to a glass of water with a straw than a fountain; the intake will be based purely on the amount and intensity of sips. When an oxygen concentrator is said to be a “single-solution” for on-the-go, at home and during sleep, it usually employs pulse dose oxygen technology so that it can deliver the proper amount of oxygen during all phases of daily activity and during rest.”

The decision of whether to purchase a pulse dose or continuous dose Portable Oxygen Machine is strictly between you and your doctor. We recommend consulting with your doctor before beginning to look at POCs. Your doctor will need to determine which technology is best for your oxygen therapy. Pulse dose machines are smaller and lighter weight. The downside is, you must be able to activate the sensors inside your machine to be supplied with oxygen. If your breathing is insufficient to use pulse dose, you could experience serious complications and injury. 

Nearly every portable oxygen concentrator that is capable of doing continuous dose is also able to do a pulse dose. It takes much more robust hardware to perform continuous dose in a small package. These machines will likely be able to perform better in terms of noise and battery life than a pulse dose-only machine when on the same settings.

The SeQual Eclipse 5, Respironics SimplyGo, and Precision Medical TOC (Total Oxygen Concentrator) all function as continuous-dose POCs. They are all on the heavier side weighing in at over 10 lbs. To alleviate this they come with portability carts straight from the factory. The SimplyGo, being about 33% lighter than the Eclipse 5, also offers a shoulder strap for those that are able to carry the weight and want less bulk. The Eclipse 5 is going to require an optional backpack for those wanting to ditch their pull cart.

What Does Flow Mean for My POC?

After determining which technology is best for your oxygen therapy, your doctor will need to determine your flow rate. Flow rate is the amount of oxygen that is being supplied by your machine when you breathe. It is averaged over a minute and measured in liters (Liters per minute). With this number in mind, and with your doctor's guidance on the type of dosing, you will be able to determine what type of POC is best for you.

Patients using a lower flow rate (typically 3 LPM or less) may look at an ultra-portable model like the Inogen One G4. This unit is the lightest and smallest unit ever made by Inogen, and will be difficult to beat based on portability alone by any other machine. Some patients may be experiencing medical problems that lead them to expect their need for supplemental oxygen to increase with time. These patients may aim for a machine that will be capable of meeting their current and future needs.

Flow rate and what technology a patient is prescribed are the main things we use to guide patients to the best machine for their needs. We are bound by law to meet your physician's guidelines and we want to make sure your machine will keep you healthy and active today and in the future.

Battery Life, and How to Maximize Your Usage

Battery life will play a key part in determining what machine is right for you once you and your doctor know what machines aren’t right. Many units are available with external battery and double battery options. External batteries can be stored in a pouch on the bag your machine manufacturer provides you. They can function as replacement batteries where you have to remove the battery and insert the new one to change them. They also may connect to your machine via a small cable allowing you to simply leave it plugged in all the time. Double batteries are two batteries in a bigger battery case that you can leave inserted in your machine. Many models, especially the Inogen One G4 and G5, are available with double batteries from the factory. The downside of purchasing a double battery unit is it will be slightly heavier.

Patients looking to purchase a POC as a single-solution machine,  should consider how to manage its battery life . For night time oxygen you will want to have a charger close by your bed so that you never run out of air during the night. Extra chargers for your POC are available for purchase and will be immeasurably convenient. Leave your DC charger in your car for when you're on the go, leave a wall charger by your bed for when you sleep, and another in the living room when you watch television. This way you never have to go for long periods of time running on the limited battery power of your machine. It’s all about minimizing the time you spend unplugged from a wall and maximizing the areas you frequent where a charger is readily available.

Weight, and Managing Your Burden

Beside battery life, weight is the second factor that I have seen patients struggle with. A machine that is simply too heavy for you to comfortably carry around is no good. Sometimes a sacrifice in one convenience, such as less battery life, will actually make the machine more useful because your shoulders will not kill you after a day out at the mall.

For patients that need more options to carry their POC, many manufacturers produce optional accessories like transport carts, backpacks, and hip bags. Inogen is especially good at producing extra accessories that make patients' lives easier. The Inogen One G4 has both the backpack and hip bag available for it. I highly recommend the hip bag for anyone with shoulder issues. It is great for shifting the weight to the hips and avoiding back pain. If shoulder strain is a problem I recommend the backpack to spread that weight out. It even comes with extra straps to spread the weight throughout the torso making it a great option. Never put your POC inside of a bag or purse not intended for it. This may block the air intake of your machine and lead to disastrous results.

Final Thoughts

Based on some of the data I have gathered while writing this and my experience working in our Retail department I can draw a few conclusions on the different brands of POCs. The Inogen One line is a stand out for battery life despite not having the largest units. The Inogen One G5 with a standard battery lasts nearly as long as the Eclipse 5 that is 3 times heavier. With the double battery the G5 actually lasts nearly twice as long. Inogen is also one of the only brands to advertise their products as 24/7 devices and offers the largest line up of accessories. 

Philips Respironics offers a backpack and double battery option for the SimplyGo Mini as well. It has an appealing modern style that looks more like the latest MacBook than a piece of medical hardware. Precision Medical’s line up of the Easy Pulse 5, Live Active 5, and TOC all offer great value for your money. For patients with greater respiratory needs, the SeQual Eclipse 5 offers the best battery life of any Continuous-dose POC making it the only choice for those that need to be on the go for long periods of time without charging.

If you have any questions when trying to pick a machine, please email us at [email protected] or call one of our stores for help!