OpenO2
We are a hub for innovation and information in the space of oxygen concentration technology used in low-income countries
We are based in Lilongwe, Malawi, and operate as a Center within the
In 2022, the OpenO2-Mobile repaired 435 oxygen concentrators servicing 50 hospitals, making another 364,248 cubic meters of oxygen available - enough to support 2,551 adult patients or up to 19,131 babies with a continuous flow of oxygen for one week. It would cost about $US4,285,270 to buy this much oxygen in Malawi right now. Our total cost for the repairs is roughly $US96,000.
Oxygen is essential for life, and plays a key role in medical care. In many low-income countries bottled oxygen is not readily available. An oxygen concentrator is a device used to increase the percentage of oxygen by removing nitrogen from room air. The process is relatively straightforward and has been around for more than 40 years. However, concentrators need periodic maintenance to replenish the zeolite, the chemical used to remove the nitrogen from air. Additionally some of the components required to run older models of concentrators are no longer available as some of models of concentrators found in low-income country settings have been out of production for more than a decade. As a result of this, many low-income countries are scattered with graveyards of oxygen concentrators that have been written-off as no longer repairable.
Our vision is to see a significant proportion of broken concentrators restored to working condition and maintainable in a sustainable way to continue to provide life-saving oxygen.
Our Mission is to provide public and private organizations in low-income countries with access to resources including repair manuals, training materials and replacement parts for obsolete models of concentrators, some of which have been developed under an open source design framework and can be made using locally available materials.
Help us to crowd-source our library of oxygen concentrator models, descriptions and resources. If you have a concentrator that needs maintenance that is not listed in our library please email the make and model number of your concentrator to info@openO2.org and we will add it to our library and try to populate with details.
See the Bulletin of the World Health Organization on COVID 19 and the oxygen bottleneck.