How the next generation of oxygen concentrators get designed
The Oxygen CoLab exists to drive the development, uptake, and scale of fit-for-purpose oxygen concentrators in low resource settings, and we’re pleased to announce two projects we’ve funded to help get us towards this goal: Drive DeVilbiss and Kröber Medizintechnik.
The background
Our work is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) which is keen to ensure the development of a next generation oxygen concentrator which is for the first time designed for low and middle income countries (LMIC’s). These innovative devices will have an impact by increasing access to oxygen for patients who need it most, especially newborns, children, and mothers in LMICs.
In partnership with UNICEF we have explored and created the environment needed to supercharge innovation in this space. UNICEF’s Target Product Profile (TPP) has defined what the ideal product should look like and we have used our CoLab methodology to build relationships and networks that support innovators and stimulate industry to perform research and development (R&D).
The key to unlocking this activity has been the systemic approach we have applied to solving the problem of access to oxygen. Through funding the development and testing of new business models, generating evidence, and driving advocacy for the oxygen concentrator we have stimulated interest in this area with a number of leading manufacturers looking to take this challenge on.
The journey to products in action
In order to catalyse innovations and accelerate products to market, UNICEF has created financial stimulus through an Advanced Purchase Commitment which expects to issue purchase orders by March 2024 with new products being delivered by December 2024.
To support these bold timelines, the Oxygen CoLab invited manufacturers able to achieve the following by March 2024:
- Oxygen concentrator design is finalised
- At-scale production of the oxygen concentrator is ready
- Regulatory applications for the oxygen concentrator have been submitted
We offered a relatively small amount of funding to catalyse action and support the ongoing R&D of oxygen concentrators required to move products towards being TPP ready. The goal being to build momentum for R&D and support progress towards UNICEF timelines. In return for this money we asked that they worked towards having a product that aligned with the following specifications:
- Resilient in hot, humid, and dusty environments
- Resilient to low quality power
- Energy efficient and solar friendly
- Supply chain friendly (i.e. suitable shelf life)
- Reliable, robust, and durable
- Improved usability for safety and user friendliness
- Easier to fix
Where we’re at today
We are excited to celebrate the Research and Development work undertaken by Drive Devilbiss and Kröber Medizintechnik to support their ongoing efforts to develop the next generation of oxygen concentrator that is designed for LMIC’s. Our first R&D rapid funding has helped the CoLab to play a small part in helping both partners take big steps forward:
Drive DeVilbiss
Drive DeVilbiss used the CoLab funding to identify different ways of making an oxygen concentrator more energy efficient. Moving from theoretical assumptions to practical options is an important part of product design and several different practical applications were explored.
The CoLab funding was catalytic, allowing the team to bring in additional engineers to work on the LMIC project and to solve some key challenges earlier in the development process. This project was also supported by Sanrai International.
Kröber Medizintechnik
The CoLab funding enabled the team to focus on enhancing the concentrator’s energy efficiency and gain a deeper understanding of zeolite functional degradation to effectively implement and objectively validate design features.
FREO2 and Kröber Medizintechnik have established a strategic alliance with the aim of collaboratively developing suitable and cost-effective oxygen technology solutions specifically tailored for utilisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The journey continues
We at the CoLab are really excited to see how even a small amount of funding can help to catalyse interest and investment, helping the oxygen concentrator to be an important part of strengthening the oxygen ecosystem across low-resource settings in LMICs.
These innovations form one part of our interconnected portfolio of work, as we look to accelerate product innovation alongside proving the existence of a market for more resilient products, testing business models that provide wrap-around implementation, maintenance, training and support.
The next few months are going to be exciting, and crucial, as we scale up our Lab Testing of current products, rigorously testing how they perform against UNICEF’s TPP and build our evidence base from our O2 as a Service Portfolio.
