An injection that delivers oxygen directly into the bloodstream for patients who cannot breathe has been invented by scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital, according a report published in Science Translational Medicine. The authors explained that when patients suffer from an obstructed airway or acute lung failure, they urgently need oxygen to reach their blood, otherwise they have brain injury or suffer from cardiac arrest.
The researchers designed an injection filled with tiny, gas-filled microparticles that can be administered directly into the bloodstream, supplying it with much-needed oxygen.
The microparticles are made of a single layer of fatty molecules that surround a miniscule pocket of oxygen – they are placed in a liquid solution and injected into the patients.
John Kheir and team say that patients who are injected with this solution, may regain near-normal blood oxygen levels within seconds.
In animal experiments, the authors reported that they could beep the animals alive without breathing for 15 minutes, drastically reducing the incidence of organ injury and cardiac arrest (the heart stops completely).
The oxygen injection may buy the patient valuable time John Kheir explained that the microparticle solutions are easy to carry around, and could conveniently be utilized to keep people who cannot breathe alive, giving emergency personnel more time to get patients to a safe place where more sophisticated life-saving procedures can be carried out.
The authors say the microparticle solution injections could not be used for more than fifteen to thirty minutes, because they contain fluid that would overload the blood if used for any longer.
These are not blood substitutes, Kheir stressed. Blood substitutes carry oxygen, but are of limited use when the lungs are not working and cannot oxygenate them. These microparticles are specifically designed for people who cannot breathe.
After caring for a young girl who had severe pneumonia in 2006 and suffered severe brain injury because of extremely low blood-oxygen levels, Kheir starting looking into the idea of injectable oxygen.
The little girl died before the medical team could get her on a heart-lung machine.
It was several years before the team managed to get the microparticles safe for injection. Kheir said “The effort was truly multidisciplinary. It took chemical engineers, particle scientists and medical doctors to get the mix just right.”
They used a sonicator – a device which emits high-intensity sound waves to mix lipids and oxygen together. Oxygen gas gets trapped inside tiny particles, about two to four micrometers in size – too small to see with the naked eye. They found that a solution in which 70% of the volume consisted of oxygen was just right for human blood.
In previous studies in the early 1900s, scientists attempted to oxygenate blood with intravenous oxygen, but they failed. Sometimes they caused fatal gas embolisms.
reference: Copyright: Medical News Today
concentratores di ossigeno portatile
What is fit to fly?
Most travellers with existing medical conditions are able to fly without difficulty. However, occasionally certain precautions need to be taken.
A fitness to fly form is required to be completed when:
- Fitness to travel is in doubt as a result of recent illness, hospitalisation, injury or surgery
- If you have an existing unstable medical condition
- You wish to use medical equipment or therapeutic oxygen on-board
Most medical cases are straightforward, but some require individual assessment. In certain cases, we may ask that you and your doctor complete a “Fitness to Fly’ Form.
Carriage of a POC:
Passengers carrying a POC should obtain a Medical Equipment Approval & Baggage Waiver letter. This approval & waiver letter must be presented at the Bag Drop desk or at the boarding gate if travelling with no checked baggage.
Use of POC during Flight:
If you wish to use a POC during flight, for the use onboard you will be required to complete a ‘Fit to Fly’ form which will be sent to the passenger once the requirement has been notified. This completed “Fit to Fly’ form must be returned between 14 up to 2 days prior to travel for validation. The validated “Fit to Fly form must be carried by the passenger on all flights and produced to our cabin crew on boarding the aircraft.
If the POC is to be used onboard it is the passenger’s responsibility to ensure that they have a sufficient number of fully charged batteries for the duration of the flight and any possible delays, as POC or batteries cannot be charged on board.
Individual airline carriers have their own regulations please check before booking departure for full details.
For further info and back up service please contact our team at info@oxygenworldwide.com or www.oxygenworldwide.com
For an example:
Please see below list of models approved for carriage on Ryanair flights:
Simply the answer with medical oxygen
OxygenWorldwide provide a service for all medical oxygen users who are travelling and should register.
WHO should register?
If you intend to travel with a portable concentrator and want to be sure alternative oxygen can be supplied in case you encounter problems with your oxygen device you can register below for this service at no cost!
WHY register?
First of all for your peace of mind and secondly to enable us to work out and inform you if we can provide the service you might require in the place and country where you will be going. Although we generally will be able to help you without a pre-registration we can act faster if we have already your details in our database.
WHEN to register?
Any time but the earlier the better as you might want to travel to a certain area where we need to check on availability.
WHO do I call?
In case of an emergency you simply call our 24 hour S.O.S. service on ++ 34 609 657 727
Questions? If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. OxygenWorldwide can, if needed, also arrange oxygen at your destination before your arrival. There is no charge for this registration Register here FREE today.
This year we will help even more travel with medical oxygen
For those of you with diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema or chronic bronchitis, supplemental medical oxygen is a necessity. If you have ever tried to travel with supplemental oxygen, you know how difficult this can be. Being prepared, and knowing how to travel safely with oxygen and where to obtain oxygen at your final destination is vital. This is where OxygenWorldwide can help with 20 years of expertise the team are ready and waiting. On call 24 hours a day book your next trip no matter how short or long haul and you will always be in safe hands.
Safety is a very important issue when traveling by car, as an oxygen tank can become a dangerous projectile in an accident. It is crucial to secure the unit. Your oxygen company can provide you with information about safe ways to store and protect your particular oxygen unit in a vehicle. In case of break down OxygenWorldwide provide a FREE registration to a Back Up Service – complete details online now and await a confirmation from our team.
Portable oxygen concentrators — which form oxygen by extracting and separating it from the surrounding air, and deliver it through a nasal cannula — may be stored in any position, but they should be padded to protect them from impact.
Travel by airplane also takes a good amount of research and preparation. No airline will allow you to bring aboard your own oxygen cylinder, but many airlines have medical oxygen cylinders available for a fee for use on their planes, such as Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Continental, Delta and Japan Airlines. The oxygen containers used on airplanes vary from airline to airline.
You will also need to contact your airline to learn their requirements for advance notification of your need for medical oxygen. Many airlines will need a letter from your physician in advance of the flight, so they can contact him or her to verify liter flow. The letter should have a date of no more than one year prior to the flight (some airlines require a letter dated no more than 10 days prior to the flight), stating the amount of oxygen needed and the flow rate, adjusted to cabin pressure.
In Europe, the rules and regulations for oxygen use on vary from country to country. There is no one place to find the information for a trip that takes you from country to country. Your best bet is to contact OxygenWorldwide’s customer service department who have a wide range of knowledge in these countries.
Being well prepared will make your travels much more enjoyable.
Are you concentrating? We are…
How does an Oxygen Concentrator work?
An Oxygen Concentrator uses the ambient air, which is normally 80% nitrogen and only 20% Oxygen. The oxygen concentrator separates the two components by using zeolite granules to selectively absorb nitrogen from the compressed air. The compressor raises the air pressure to about 20-lbs per square inch (P.S.I). The compressed air is introduced into one of the canisters containing zeolite granules where nitrogen is selectively absorbed leaving the residual oxygen available for patient use. After about 20 seconds the supply of compressed air is automatically diverted to the second canister where the process is repeated enabling the output of oxygen continue uninterrupted.
While the pressure in the second canister is at 20 P.S.I. the pressure in the first canister is reduced to zero. This allows nitrogen to be released from the zeolite and returned into the atmosphere. The zeolite is then regenerated and ready for the next cycle. By alternating the pressure in the two canisters so that first one and then the other is at 20 P.S.I., a constant supply of oxygen is produced while the zeolite is continually being regenerated. Individual units have an output of up to five litres per minute with an oxygen concentration of up to 95%. What is Zeolite? The word ‘zeolite’ is Greek in origin and means ‘boiling stones’ as natural zeolites visibly lose water when heated. Zeolite is an inorganic porous material having a highly regular structure of pores and chambers that allows some molecules to pass through, and causes others to be either excluded, or broken down. It is in many ways, the inorganic equivalent of organic enzymes, many of which also have specific sized chambers that trap chemicals within our bodies, holding them where they either break down, or react with specific chemicals. Zeolite has many uses.
Who uses O2 concentrators?
COPD Patients suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an illness with disabling symptoms, high cost of care, and substantial mortality. COPD is an obstructive airway disease that is characterized by a reduction noted on the individual’s pulmonary function study. The term COPD is often applied to a family of diseases, including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and alpha 1-antitrypsin disease. Currently, therapeutic interventions can slow the progression of these diseases, but they cannot stop or reverse it.
Oxygen concentrators dramatically extends the use time from a supply of oxygen, offering increased mobility with improved comfort and increased efficiency. The short pulse of oxygen delivered during inhalation is almost undetectable, and the humidity in the room air helps maintain a normal level of moisture in the nasal cavity. This greatly reduces the discomfort of dehydration associated with a continuous flow oxygen system.
For more information on medical oxygen, oxygen concentrators and traveling abroad please contact Oxygen Worldwide.
Oxygen Worldwide plays their part in Japan.
The recent tragic events in Japan have shocked the world. Back in March an earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.9, rocked the east coast of the Asian nation sending the country into panic. The tsunami that followed, with waves up to ten metres, decimated large areas causing deaths to thousands. What followed is even more worrying as nuclear power stations were destroyed meaning many more millions of Japanese are at risk from nuclear radiation. The world, quite rightly, has huddled round to help their friends in need.
Rescue teams have been sent to help with find an estimated 14,736 people that originally deemed missing. The re-building work will take time as the ruins continue to be surveyed as scenes of devastation are still evident. This is why portable, medical oxygen is more important than ever. With the air being breached from the debris and dirt disturbed by the quake, for the rescued and the rescuers the need for clean oxygen is a must. Oxygen Worldwide can play their part in ensuring the health and safety of everyone by providing fresh, clean liquid oxygen, and at the risk of sounding morbid it’s important to explain why.
For everyone involved in the rescue mission, the contaminated air heightens the risk of contracting such respiratory diseases as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The need for readily available medical oxygen is vital. For the rescue teams they are admirably risking their health to save others, and for the rescued the risks of being stuck for days on end are catastrophic.
Portable medical oxygen can battle can against the risks for everyone involved in making Japan regain its identity. Portable medical oxygen is something Oxygen Worldwide excels in. The whole setup is simple but so effective. Order the oxygen, travel, receive the oxygen. They want to keep people healthy. Imagine being rescued in Japan. Stuck for days breathing in dirty air, feeling the lungs become contaminated. I’m no expert on the matter but I’m sure that first burst of fresh oxygen could make all the difference.
This is of course taking Oxygen Worldwide’s uses to the extreme but if you are travelling to Japan, whether it be to see loved ones or on business, and rely on medical oxygen then this oxygen travel service can ease you through your trip.
It will take a long time before Japan returns to the colourful nation that we have become accustomed to but with the simple method of making medical oxygen readily available, Oxygen Worldwide can play its part.
Small & Mighty
Small portable oxygen concentrators & battery life.
When you need a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) you will look most possibly for the smallest one as you don’t want to carry or pull around a large and heavy machine. The Airsep Freestyle is currently the smallest portable oxygen concentrator around but being so small it has the disadvantage that it only gives a flow form 2-3 litres per minute and price wise does it not vary much from other models that give up to 6 litres of oxygen per minute.
The other consideration will most likely be the battery life of portable oxygen concentrators. When people start to shop around for a portable concentrator (POC) they often decide that the Philips Evergo or the Inogen One are the machines to go for. The reason being the number of hours they can use the POC if they are going out as the technical data specifies 8 hour use without recharge. But let’s face it, who is going where that there are no power outlets nearby. One can plug in his or her battery charger at a friends place, in every restaurant, coffee shop not to mention the cigarette lighter in the car. This way the battery does not need to be so big and heavy.
The most popular model at this moment that covers about everybody’s needs is either the Sequal Elcipse 3 (which has both a pulse and constant flow of oxygen but needs to be wheeled around on a trolley) or the Invacare XPO2 which is pulse operated but can be carried around with a shoulder strap.
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Concentratores di ossigeno portatile
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