Many apologies for the rather sporadic blogging! I’ve finally caught up to speed today to share what I worked on. After running many pressure tests last week, today’s task was to test all the units again for oxygen levels. We are primarily looking to confirm a few things: the oxygen mixing performs as expected, there are no oxygen leaks, and the exhaust system we developed recently works appropriately. This is done using an oxygen concentrator and an oxygen meter.

I started by testing the effectiveness of our exhaust system. I tested the O2 concentration performed at a predetermined “worst case scenario”. Using these parameters, I tested the levels of oxygen immediately outside the exhaust, in the proximity, and inside the unit (while keeping the office appropriately ventilated) during operation. The concentrator is surprisingly noisy, but it is important to keep doors open for continuous airflow in order to get accurate readings. I felt a little guilty for my coworkers working nearby. After the testing, I was extremely pleased with the results. There was absolutely no buildup of oxygen within or surrounding the unit, indicating that the modification is working well!

The next round of testing is considerably more tedious. Using the guidelines for oxygen and total air flow rates, I proceeded to test every combination to make sure that we would get the desired concentration of oxygen being outputted to the patient. The amount of oxygen being produced by the concentrator changes along with the flow rate from the Pumani unit. According to our most recent oxygen mixing table, the units all perform to standard! As usual, our results are documented and then summarized in a more succinct format for future reference. The oxygen testing was honestly quite the process. Robert and I joked that after running these tests with concentrated O2 for so many hours, I would begin to feel rather energetic…