Evaluation of Clinical Use of Effortless Oxygen Device in Patients with Oxygen Dependence

Introduction: The importance of oxygen supplementation in patients with advanced lung disease is well known, but there are technical limitations to the efficiency of oxygen delivery for patients who desire to be active and independent. The Effortless Oxygen (EO) system is a novel flow-triggered pulsed device that provides the oxygen bolus early in the inspiratory phase of the triggered breath. We conducted this prospective, open-label, crossover study to evaluate the clinical performance of this system compared to the conventional standard of continuous oxygen using 6-minute walk tests (6MWT). Methods: Thirteen subjects were enrolled and completed a single session with each performing two 6MWTs. The primary endpoint was the composite of the minimum, maximum, and mean oxygen saturation. The secondary endpoints consisted of mean and maximum heart rate during the 6MWTs, Borg Dyspnea Score, distance ambulated, and the time to recovery. Results: There were no significant differences in either the primary or secondary outcomes. Although not statistically significant, the mean time to recovery of the subjects’ SpO 2 with the EO system appeared shorter, and the reported recovery to baseline breathlessness appeared delayed with the EO system when compared to the conventional delivery of continuous oxygen. Discussion: While no significant differences were found in the subjective and physiologic parameters, the subjects did report ease with triggering oxygen from the EO system. Overall, the study demonstrates no untoward adverse effects when using the EO system. The next step would be to compare how well the EO system performs against the conventional pressure-drop triggered systems.