Next Generation, High-Flow, Portable Oxygen Concentrators: AirOmatix, Inc.

Background

The global market for industrial and medical oxygen is $40-$60 billion USD per year. At least $4-$5 billion USD per year of that market is estimated to be medical oxygen in the form of bulk oxygen and oxygen concentrators. Of that, the global market for portable oxygen concentrators is over $1 billion USD per year.

Medical oxygen is prescribed whenever patients experience respiratory distress and/or decreased blood oxygen saturation levels. The global market for medical oxygen is primarily driven by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with recent, additional spikes in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic. COPD tends to impact older people so COPD diagnoses are expected to increase as the global population ages. There is also research that suggests vaping and e-cigarettes are causing COPD or COPD-like symptoms in younger patients.

Bulk oxygen is produced in large, industrial plants and delivered in metal cylinders of compressed oxygen and dewars of liquid oxygen. Bulk oxygen can effectively serve even the highest flow (>10 L/min) oxygen patients, but are cumbersome, finite, and subject to supply chain risks. Oxygen concentrators rely on the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) method that is over 50 years old. Portable PSA oxygen concentrators are much more convenient for low-flow (<1.5 L/min) oxygen patients but tend to be loud and are not an option for higher-flow oxygen patients.

Technology Overview

This technology is based on a new method to separate oxygen from the air or other gaseous mixtures. A chemical reaction driven by light is used to trap oxygen in a chemical species. The trapped oxygen can be released as needed through a reaction that is controlled by temperature (18-40 °C). Initial results have shown that the system can trap oxygen under standard atmospheric conditions as well as under reduced pressures, and low-oxygen partial pressures. Using a flow type reactor pure oxygen is released upon heating. This is fundamentally different, and results in superior oxygen separation, than the current PSA technology that is used for portable oxygen concentrators.

Benefits

• Greater independence and peace of mind: Currently, high-flow oxygen patients must rely on portable oxygen cylinders when away from home. As a result, they limit outings and/or are worried about running out of oxygen. High-flow, portable oxygen concentrators would allow high-flow patients more freedom to travel and peace of mind.
• Improved home health experience: Today, high-flow oxygen patients are connected by tubes to oxygen cylinders or large oxygen concentrators. Those tubes create trip hazards for patients, caregivers, friends, and family. Patients have also complained that cylinders and concentrators take up a lot of space and the concentrators are very loud. High-flow, portable oxygen concentrators are much smaller and operate almost silently.
• Reduced supply chain issues: The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed supply chain risks in many markets, including toilet paper, baby formula, and oxygen. For example, in Tampa and Orlando, residents had to boil water because oxygen used by water treatment plants had been diverted to medical use. Allowing high-flow oxygen patients to use high-flow, portable oxygen concentrators would greatly reduce their exposure to supply chain disruptions.

Applications

• Portable high-flow oxygen concentrators are a white space market that is completely unserved. High-flow patients must rely on portable oxygen cylinders when away from their homes or the hospital.
• Mobile, home health oxygen concentrators are larger units that can be moved from room to room. Like non-portable PSA units, Mobile Concentrators can replace large oxygen cylinders or dewars of liquid oxygen, but generate much less noise.
• Enterprise oxygen concentrators can give smaller clinics, critical access hospitals, and older hospitals an alternative to oxygen cylinders. Most large and/or newer hospitals have oxygen accessible from the wall, fed from a central source - usually a large dewar of liquid oxygen.

Opportunity

This technology has the unique advantages of higher oxygen purity, higher oxygen flow rate, quieter operation, and no need for pressurization compared to existing PSA oxygen concentrators. For patients requiring high oxygen flow, they can finally have the convenience and peace of mind of a high-flow, portable oxygen concentrator. This technology can reduce their anxiety over running out of oxygen while away from home. It can also increase their quality of life at home by reducing the footprint, eliminating trip hazards from long tubes, and offering nearly silent operation compared to existing, high-flow, home oxygen concentrators.

This technology is easier to scale than PSA because there’s no need for high-pressure vessels, pumps, or fixtures. That will allow us to build larger concentrators enabling medical clinics and hospitals to supply their own oxygen.