What Are Medical Air Compressors Used For?

Medical air compressors power many applications within medical facilities. Most of these applications require that the compressed air provided is free of contamination. To supply clean, pure air, oil-free and oil-less compressors designed for medical use are commonly implemented. Oil-flooded compressors risk contaminating compressed air with mineral oil which is harmful to patients.

Below, you will find the uses of a medical air compressor, along with a few types of medical air compressors that may be useful to you.

Medical Air Compressor Uses

Patient Breathing

Compressors can be used to provide patients under sedation with clean air. This type of application is also used to assist patients having trouble breathing on their own.

Powering Hand-held Medical Tools

Compressors are also used to power surgical instruments. Some examples of these instruments are ones that perform puncturing, drilling, and other surgical applications.

Air Filtration in Duct Systems

Clean air is needed for filtration and duct systems. The reason is because all air within medical systems need to be pure and clean so as not to harm patients.

Equipment Sterilization

Compressors can also be used to power cleaning and sterilization systems. You may not think that oil-free and oil-less compressors are necessary for this type of job, however, contamination of sterilized equipment can lead to patient harm.

Laboratory Use

Medical compressors power equipment that analyzes blood, operates chiropractic tables, operates mammograms and x-rays, and generates oxygen and nitrogen.

Types of Medical Air Compressors

Oil-Less Reciprocating Compressors

Oil-less reciprocating compressors are best used for applications that require intermittent cycling. Oil-less compressors ensure contamination never occurs even if filtration failure happens.

These units can be quite loud, so if noise is a concern, this may not be the best solution.

Oil-Free Screw Compressors

Oil-free screw compressors are extremely energy-efficient and are fairly quiet. These compressors also reduce risk of contamination due to their oil-free nature. Beyond medical facility applications, these compressors are also used often in medical device manufacturing.

These are typically used when the medical air requirement is very large because these are industrial sized units. It is best to use these units when you have a large air requirement. This isn’t very common.

Oil-Free Scroll Compressors

Oil-free scroll compressors eliminate contamination, are smaller in size, operate with little noise, and are generally low-maintenance. As a result, these compressors are often used in smaller clinics and facilities.

It is also important to note that this is the most common type of medical compressor used in facilities. This is in part due to the controls that these units come with that seamlessly integrate into hospital systems. Another reason that these are so common is that this system type is an industry-standard.

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