A system for assisting breathing in a patient having low blood oxygen saturation, comprising:
- (1) a portable oxygen concentrator configured to deliver an enriched oxygen airflow, wherein the portable oxygen concentrator comprises:
- (a) a pressure gradient generating system;
- (b) at least one nitrogen adsorption media that generates the enriched oxygen airflow when exposed to air and acted on by a sufficient pressure gradient and that is selectively isolated from an ambient environment by at least one air enrichment area separator;
- (c) an enriched oxygen airflow outlet that is fluidly connected to a flow line and a patient oxygen delivery interface;
- (d) a programmable controller comprising stored non-transitory computer readable instructions and a processor for executing the stored instructions and wherein the controller is configured to determine:
- (I) a volume of the airflow delivered to the patient,
- (II) an oxygen concentration of the airflow, and
- (III) whether to deliver enriched oxygen airflow to the patient via continuous delivery or pulse delivery;
- (e) one or more sensors configured to detect changes in patient oxygen intake, and
- (f) an alarm that is configured to relay an alert when the oxygen airflow administered changes from a moderately enriched oxygen airflow to a highly enriched oxygen airflow or an intensively enriched oxygen airflow, wherein the portable oxygen concentrator is configured to:
- (I) deliver the enriched oxygen airflow to the patient for a period of at least 1 month, the delivery of the enriched oxygen airflow comprising a therapeutically effective amount of moderately enriched oxygen airflow comprising an oxygen concentration of between 30-49%,
- (II) monitor the breathing of the patient through the one or more sensors configured to detect changes in patient oxygen intake, and
- (III) automatically switch between at least one pulse delivery mode and a continuous delivery mode wherein in the continuous delivery mode the portable oxygen concentrator is configured to automatically:
- (A) generate an intensively enriched oxygen airflow comprising an oxygen concentration of at least about 60% and
- (B) continuously deliver between about 640 mL and about 1200 mL of the intensively enriched oxygen airflow to the patient per average inspiration based on a timing of detection of breathing of the patient through the one or more sensors when the controller determines that one or more aspects of the patient's breathing meets or exceeds one or more pre-programmed thresholds;
- and wherein the portable oxygen concentrator is configured to consume an average of 30-60 Watts of energy during operation.