Hypoxicators: Review of the operating principles and constructions

Abstract

Traditional treatment protocols for intermittent hypoxia training/therapy (IHT) comprises repeated exposures to low oxygen atmosphere breathing, altered with breathing ambient air. The rapid advance of IHT has led to the development of different medical equipment - hypoxicators - for its implementation in sport practice, military operations and also for clinical application. A variety of technical implementations for this treatment has been tested and used in recent decades, including hypobaric chambers, normobaric reduced oxygen rooms and mask-system hypoxicators, which produce hypoxic air in various ways. On the basis of hypoxicators classification, the overview of their design, medical and technical requirements is presented, and the perspectives of their development and industry trends are described as well as advantages and disadvantages of their operation.