Technology to improve reliable access to oxygen in Western Uganda: study protocol for a phased implementation trial in neonatal and paediatric wards.

Introduction: Oxygen is an essential medicine for children and adults. The current systems for its delivery can be expensive and unreliable in settings where oxygen is most needed. FREO Foundation Australia has developed an integrated oxygen system, driven by a mains-powered oxygen concentrator, with the ability to switch automatically between low-pressure oxygen storage device and cylinder oxygen in power interruptions.

Technical results from a trial of the FREO2 Low-Pressure Oxygen Storage system, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda.

Increased access to reliable medical oxygen would reduce the global burden of pneumonia. Oxygen concentrators have been shown to be an effective solution, however they have significant drawbacks when used in low-resource environments where pneumonia burden is the heaviest. Low quality grid power can damage oxygen concentrators and blackouts can prevent at-risk patients from receiving continual oxygen therapy.

A Low-Pressure Oxygen Storage System for Oxygen Supply in Low-Resource Settings.

Background: Widespread access to medical oxygen would reduce global pneumonia mortality. Oxygen concentrators are one proposed solution, but they have limitations, in particular vulnerability to electricity fluctuations and failure during blackouts. The low-pressure oxygen storage system addresses these limitations in low-resource settings.

FREO: An electricity free oxygen concentrator.

The World Health Organization recommends oxygen therapy for children with severe pneumonia, but this essential medicine is unavailable in many health centres in limited-resource settings. To address this need, an appropriate means of oxygen provision will need to be low-cost and robust, require little maintenance and not compete for fuel with other vital functions, and be environmentally sustainable. This report presents the preliminary results of the Fully Renewable Energy Oxygen (FREO2) system, confirming the viability of a novel means of producing medical grade oxygen without any electricity.