Comments
In a move that will increase the efficiency of oxygen cylinders three-fold, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar have developed a first-of-its-kind Oxygen Rationing Device called Amlex that supplies the required volume of oxygen to the patient during inhalation and trips when the patient exhales CO2.
This process saves oxygen which otherwise unnecessarily gets wasted, said an official statement on Tuesday.
Wastage of oxygen
Typically, oxygen in the oxygen cylinder/pipe is pushed out along with the exhaled CO2 by the user during exhalation. This leads to wastage of a large volume of oxygen in the long run.
In addition to this, a large volume of oxygen escapes from the opening of the mask to the environment in the resting period (between inhalation and exhalation) due to the continuous flow of life-saving gas in the mask, said the statement.
The device could be of help in stopping unwanted wastage of oxygen, particularly when the demand for medical oxygen shoots up, as was witnessed during the second wave of the pandemic. “The device can operate on both portable power supply (battery) as well as line supply (220V-50Hz),” IIT Ropar Director Rajeev Ahuja was quoted as saying in the statement.
Brains behind it
Amlex was developed by the PhD students of the Biomedical Engineering Department– Mohit Kumar, Ravinder Kumar and Amanpreet Chander – under the guidance of Ashish Sahani, Assistant Professor.
“Made specifically for oxygen cylinders, Amlex can be easily connected between oxygen supply line and the mask worn by the patient. It uses a sensor, which senses and successfully detects inhalation and exhalation of the user in any environmental condition,” said Sahani. This ready-to-use device works with any commercially available oxygen therapy masks having multiple openings for air flow.
Appreciating the innovation, Dr GS Wander, Director, Research and Development at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, said that in the present pandemic times “we all have learnt the importance of effective and pertinent use of life saving oxygen”.
He said though many hospitals are increasing their oxygen production capacity, a device like this can really help in limiting the use of oxygen in small rural- and semi-urban health centres.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.