The university on Monday (30th August) unveiled its efforts as the world continues to battle to coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the oxygen shortages that surround the virus.
With the development of the new concentrator, it is hoped that some cases of hospitalisation can be avoided. Researchers also help the concentrator will help shortages.
Unlike with oxygen tanks, portable concentrators remove nitrogen from ambient air. Nitrogen is stripped away via adsorption.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Faruque Hasan, Associate Professor, said, “The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant stress to our medical and emergency facilities and a surge of people requiring medical attention, and hospitals have a limited number of ventilation equipment.”
“But we could prevent some cases of hospitalisation if we designed a more advanced, compact and portable oxygen concentrator that has flexible operating conditions to deliver as much oxygen as the patient requires.”
He continued, “Right now, medical professionals are needed to administer oxygen based on the condition of the patient, so at-home monitoring is not possible. We hope to design a more cost- effective, flexible, controllable medical oxygen concentrator that can provide a personalised oxygen supply at home.”