Part 2 of Is Our Oxygen Supply System Broken?
If We Can Control a Helicopter on Mars Why Cannot My POC Regulate Itself?
In my last post we explored some of the pitfalls regarding prescription and insurance payments for oxygen. One of the things that could help make this process much simpler would be a device that would increase oxygen when I needed the increase and decrease the oxygen when I did not need as much. If we had such a device, we could have a much more streamlined prescription process.
I have been exploring the technology that would be necessary for a self-regulating device for our oxygen delivery mechanisms. My friend who is a severe diabetic has an insulin pump which she wears on her side under her clothing that regulates the amount of insulin that is administered to maintain her blood sugar levels. The marketing talk says that trying to control your insulin and sugar balance can be stressful and time consuming, so the technology regulates the amount of insulin based on the readings from the monitor which is placed on the skin and continuously monitors the blood sugar levels. The technology then causes the insulin pump to deliver correction boluses for over an hour. The advertisement further states that the technology can be set to recognize the needs more accurately during sleep, exercise, and normal activity. I obtained this information from the Tandem Diabetes Care Website. https://www.tandemdiabetes.com/products/t-slim-x2-landing-page-g6?gclid=Cj0KCQjw38-DBhDpARIsADJ3kjkLFPo2jBpnIzGFe09zNwschoWW9UiHiIDZM3g6RsJX1_lMHHdI8kcaAsJIEALw_wcB
There is even a tubeless system for delivering insulin that is totally controlled so that you do not have to do anything except put it on. It is called and Omnipod.
Why can this same technology not be applied to my oxygen device? I know that the oximeter needs to be able to pass the signal through the body part to get feedback, so a simple receptor on the skin does not work, but how about using the earlobe? Some of the first oximeters were placed on the earlobe and we could make a fashion statement as well as send feedback to the oxygen device. Would it be different if COPD were higher on the list of diseases that receive Federal Funding? Is there something that I can do to help promote better funding for my disease? Yes, there is something that you can do. You can join the State Captains in promoting better funding by contacting your congressional representatives. Go to the COPD Foundation website, join, and click the “take action” tab. https://www.copdfoundation.org/User-Login.aspx?returnurl=%2fRegistration-Confirmation.aspx
Does the new device being offered by Inogen attempt to solve this issue? The device is called a Tidal Assist Ventilator (TAV). The advertising language goes something like this, “Do you want to do your activities without feeling breathless?” “You can take back control of your breathing and life again with the Inogen TAV. Comfortable and easy-to-use, the Inogen TAV is an innovative consumer-grade ventilator that you can use at home. With the Inogen TAV, oxygen is delivered via small, non-invasive nasal pillows placed at the base of your nose. They are so comfortable you will hardly know you are wearing them. With three therapy mode settings – pulse, tidal assist and constant – and five levels of flow for each setting, the powerful and ultra-lightweight Inogen TAV comfortably provides higher oxygen flow and respiratory assist to give you twice the average exercise endurance. Plus, the Inogen TAV is affordable and compatible with recommended oxygen concentrators, cylinders, and air boxes.” The catch here is the type of concentrator that it works with is not the Inogen G4 which is lightweight and easy to carry, but a much larger concentrator. You must watch these companies, because anything that you can move from one place to another on wheels is considered portable. How big would the cylinder have to be to contain enough oxygen to last a person more than 4 hours?
This TAV is a far cry from even the insulin pump that my friend wears under her clothing. It does little to enable the person who is on 5 or 6 liters of oxygen to be mobile.
#COPDFoundation #TechConnect #Oxygen360