Oxygen concentrators are generally used by patients who require supplemental oxygen. Supplemental oxygen is prescribed for people with a variety of chronic pulmonary disorders, such as lung cancer, emphysema, bronchitis, or acute pneumonia. Oxygen concentrator products enrich normal room air to a 90 percent or more oxygen level. It provides a continuous flow of oxygen by separating oxygen from room air with a molecular sieve composed of an inorganic silicate.



Oxygen concentrators can be effectively used in clinical as well as home settings to support the oxygen needs of the users. These equipment also prove to be an effective form of treatment at home as they are able to provide continuous oxygen support as a part of standard oxygen therapy.

Market Dynamics

The Indian market for oxygen concentrators is emerging as a dual market. The premium imported segment is bought by medium and small hospitals and nursing homes. The large hospitals which have their own oxygen generation plants to cater to their oxygen therapy needs, do have limited requirement for their mobile facilities, including ambulances. The assembled segment is being procured by central and state government hospitals through tenders where orders are awarded to the lowest bidder.

In 2009, an estimated 7400 units of oxygen concentrators have been installed, valued at Rs. 25.68 crore.

With sales of 4400 units, imported brands dominated the market with contribution of 72 percent, valued at Rs. 18.48 crore. These are premium priced, fixed models, retailed at an average unit price of Rs. 42,000. A very small percentage of pulse dose-based portable models are also bought by the discerning patients who require mobility, in the unit price range of Rs. 1.2 lakh-1.5 lakh.

This segment is led by Airsep (marketed by Adage Medical Systems, Elder Instruments, and Harrison Medical Instruments and many others) and Nidek Medical, together contributing to 72 percent of sales.  DeVilbiss Healthcare, Philips Respironics, and Weinmann are the dominant players in this segment.

Assembled oxygen concentrators had a sale of 3000 units, valued at Rs. 7.2 crore. Competitively priced, retailed at average unit price of Rs. 24,000, these equipment are mainly sourced from Chinese companies or assembled in India from parts imported from Chinese OEM suppliers. Recently, Madras Surgical and Chemicals, Chennai bid to supply oxygen concentrators for as low as Rs. 17,000 per unit.

This segment is dominated by BPL, RMS, LifePlus Medical Inc., Medioxy (Chandigarh), and couple of Chinese brands including Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment Inc., Longfei Group Co., Ltd., and Longfian Scitech Co. Ltd.

Other vendors of oxygen concentrators in India include Bangalore Medical Systems, Elder Instruments Pvt. Ltd., Helix Corporation, Inmed Equipments, Innovative Medical Systems, SS Technomed, Trans Healthcare, Moditech International, Phoenix Medical Systems, Unissi (India) Pvt. Ltd., GV Biomedicals, and Taurus Healthcare.

AirSep offers its products through more than 25 distributors based in India. It manufactures wide variety of field-proven, reliable oxygen concentrators. AirSep offers complete line of oxygen concentrators that include light, small, and quiet portable oxygen concentrators for travel and ambulatory oxygen needs.

Adage Medical Systems offers Vissionaire, Lifestyle, and Freestyle range of oxygen concentrators from AirSep.

Elder Instruments offers 525KS Visionaire oxygen concentrator from AirSep.

Harrison Medical Instruments offer a range of oxygen concentrators from AirSep.

BPL manufactures OG 4203 oxygen concentrator with pressure swing absorption technology.

Helix Corporation offers Diatom 20 LPM with 65 psi oxygen output and Inspiron with 5 LPM and 8 LPM models.

Life Plus offers oxygen concentrator with double and single outlet. It has also launched a single outlet oxygen concentrator with LCD display.

Moditech International offers CE approved Medoxy range of fixed and portable oxygen concentrators with in-built pulse oximeter and nebulizer.

Nidek manufactures NUVO oxygen concentrator with oxygen flow rate of 1-2 LPM; NUVO 8 with oxygen flow rate of 1-8 LPM; and light weight and portable oxygen concentrator (13.6 kg) NUVO LITE. All its oxygen concentrators are ISO, CE, and FDA approved.

Philips Respironics offers EverFlo with proven sieve bed and pressure swing absorption technology and EverGo with eight hours of battery backup. Philips has a local presence through its India based office and infrastructure and has strengthened its serviceability through its local factory authorized service centers in addition to support from its Hong Kong based service centre.

Growth Drivers

The oxygen concentrators market is a consumer driven market, where the product's success hinges upon the ease-of-use and the associated learning curve. Medical equipment manufacturers are increasingly recognizing this, and are now including small but significant design changes which fit into a patient's routine rather than other way around. Home monitoring devices have become smaller and more unobtrusive. These changes allow patients to maintain their current lifestyle, indirectly increasing compliance by reducing the adjustments one had to make with traditional systems.

Oxygen concentrators market is reckoned to witness growth due to the aging population, a factor which implies greater need for oxygen therapy. Other factors aiding growth include the rising incidence of respiratory diseases, such as chronic hypoxemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lifestyle changes, growing affordability, and awareness of patients.

Trends

In recent years, the ambulatory features are becoming popular with the home medical equipment industry and patients alike. The real advancements in the modern liquid oxygen systems are in the portable oxygen concentrators. They usually weigh around 3 kg, compared to 14-54 kg for the typical fixed oxygen concentrators. Furthermore, the portable equipment now permits two to eight hours of continuous supplemental oxygen delivery.

With the technological advancements in oxygen therapy it is possible for long term oxygen therapy patients to fly safely with their oxygen in tow. Depending on the severity, one can choose from several portable oxygen concentrators to take along on flights.

Cost reduction has become the primary theme of healthcare reforms globally. Rising healthcare expenditure as percentage of GDP is forcing consumers to look for alternatives. To survive and succeed in these challenging conditions, it is imperative for healthcare providers to look for ways to adapt and implement new strategies to help them save on costs.

While timely service of the oxygen concentrators is required for calibration and proper functioning of the equipment, the end-users of assembled oxygen concentrators are facing the scarcity of frequent service facility by the vendors. The market participants are required to offer a wide range of products, services, training, and support, whose purpose is to make it easier and enjoyable for end-users to take advantage of the convenience delivered by oxygen concentrators.

Technological advancements are boosting the market and are beginning to yield greater reliability and convenience to the patient community. Technology-led innovations are setting the growth momentum for medical oxygen equipment, as manufacturers continue to leverage cutting-edge technological advancements to innovate oxygen equipment, which are reliable and convenient.