Assessment of a storage system to deliver uninterrupted therapeutic oxygen during power outages in resource-limited settings

Access to therapeutic oxygen remains a challenge in the effort to reduce pneumonia mortality among children in low- and middle-income countries. The use of oxygen concentrators is common, but their effectiveness in delivering uninterrupted oxygen is gated by reliability of the power grid. Often cylinders are employed to provide continuous coverage, but these can present other logistical challenges. In this study, we examined the use of a novel, low-pressure oxygen storage system to capture excess oxygen from a concentrator to be delivered to patients during an outage. A prototype was built and tested in a non-clinical trial in Jinja, Uganda. The trial was carried out at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital over a 75-day period. The flow rate of the unit was adjusted once per week between 0.5 and 5 liters per minute. Over the trial period, 1284 power failure episodes with a mean duration of 3.1 minutes (range 0.08 to 1720 minutes) were recorded. The low-pressure system was able to deliver...在降低中低收入国家儿童肺炎死亡率的工作中，治疗用氧气（therapeutic oxygen）的获取仍存在显著挑战。当前制氧机（oxygen concentrators）的应用较为普遍，但其能否持续稳定供氧，取决于当地电网（power grid）的可靠性。临床实践中常采用氧气钢瓶（cylinders）保障持续供氧，但这类设备往往会引发诸多后勤层面的难题。本研究探索了一款新型低压储氧系统（low-pressure oxygen storage system）的应用方案：该系统可收集制氧机产生的富余氧气，用于在停电期间为患者接续供氧。我们搭建了一套原型设备，并在乌干达金贾开展了非临床试验（non-clinical trial）。本次试验在金贾区域转诊医院（Jinja Regional Referral Hospital）进行，为期75天。 该设备的流速（flow rate）每周调整一次，调整区间为0.5至5升每分钟。试验期间，共记录到1284起停电事件（power failure episodes），平均持续时长为3.1分钟（区间范围0.08至1720分钟）。该低压储氧系统可实现……