In a bid to strengthen the stressed health infrastructure of the country, PM Cares has approved the procurement of 1.5 lakh Oxycare units produced by the DRDO at a cost of Rs. 322.5 crores.  The DRDO or Defence Research & Development Organization is a defence research related agency of the Indian government.  The move comes after the news of patients at several hospitals across the country dying due to lack of oxygen is getting more common by the day.

Details

On May 12, the Prime Minister approved the procurement of as many as one and a half lakh ‘Oxycare’ units. These units will be procured with the PM-CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation) funds. The potentially life-saving piece of equipment is developed by the DRDO and Rs. 322.5 crores will be used from the PM-CARES Funds to procure these units.

What is Oxycare system?

According to the press release issued by the DRDO, “Oxycare is a SpO2 based Oxygen Supply System which regulates the oxygen being administered to patients based on the sensed SpO2 levels.”  The oxycare systems provide supplemental oxygen to patients and prevent them from sinking into hypoxia (a medical condition in which not enough oxygen reaches tissues and cells) which can be fatal.

Initially developed for soldiers posted at high-altitude region

The DRDO had initially developed a version of these systems with the help of DEBEL (Defence Bio-Engineering & Electro Medical Laboratory) for the soldiers who protect the nation from extreme high-altitude regions. The agency claims that it can be used to aid COVID-19 patients as well.

2 Versions of Oxycare systems: manual & automatic

Currently there are two versions of the oxycare systems. The basic one comes with a 10l Oxygen cylinder, a pressure regulator, a nasal cannula and a humidifier. In this version the flow is manually regulated based on a patient’s SpO2 readings.

The second version is an automatic one in which the oxygen cylinder comes with electronic components that automatically regulates oxygen flow through SpO2 probe and a low-pressure regulator. This version carefully optimizes the consumption of oxygen based on the SpO2 requirement of the patients and thus, increases the lifespan of the portable oxygen cylinder.  The display provided can be used for proactive SpO2 level monitoring. Thanks to this automatic version, the health care workers will not be overburdened as the need of constant adjustments and measurements is taken care of.

Further, the automatic version of Oxycare also gives out audio warnings for several scenarios such as disconnections, low SpO2 levels, etc. The Oxycare units come with non-rebreather masks which enables optimum use of oxygen, saving 30-40% of oxygen that’s used otherwise. The DRDO in its release claimed that these systems can be used at various places including homes, COVID-19 care centres, Quarantine chambers, etc.

Under the PM approved sanction, 1,00,000 manual and 50,000 automatic Oxycare systems with the non-rebreather masks will be procured.

Medical-Grade-Cylinder

Oxygen-Regulator

SPOC

Foreign countries continue sending aid to India

While the Centre is ushering its resources in approving more oxygen plants and procuring other oxygen related supplies, foreign countries continue sending medical supplies. On Wednesday, INS Tarkash docked at Mumbai with 2 Liquid Medical Oxygen filled cryogenic containers that carried 20 MT of medical grade oxygen each. Along with the containers, the ship also brought with it 230 oxygen cylinders.

The Indian Navy stated, “The oxygen containers were facilitated by the French Mission as part of the “Oxygen Solidarity Bridge” and oxygen cylinders were gifted by Indian diaspora in Qatar.” After the ship was docked, the shipment was given to the Maharashtra administration.

Earlier on Tuesday, INS Kochi and INS Tabar docked at the Mangalore port with 100 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen in 5 containers and 1,200 more oxygen cylinders, courtesy Kuwait. The Navy said that the consignment was given to the Indian Oil Corporation Limited for further action.