History of Oxygen concentrators

India is struggling with second wave of Corona and this time the culprit is -supply limitation of medical grade oxygen. A brief history of oxygen concentrators:

Oxygen, the element, was discovered in1772, by Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele. From there, it took a little under 100 years for scientists and doctors to understand how to use oxygen to help those with varying illnesses and diseases. In 1885, the first ever recorded use of oxygen was documented for a medical purpose. This medical procedure was to treat a patient with pneumonia. This revolutionary treatment was administered and pioneered by Dr. George Holtzapple. Just two years later, a product was invented and sold that stored enough oxygen for intermittent use. At the turn of the twentieth century, a nasal catheter was used as the connection between the oxygen and the patient. It wasn’t, however, until 1917 that Jon Scott Haldane invented the gas mask to protect and treat soldiers who had been affected by dangerous chlorine gasses during the First World War.  Medical use of oxygen made major leaps and bounds up until World War II. Oxygen was mainly being used in hospitals to treat patients with a variety of respiratory issues. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the first form of portable medical oxygen therapy was invented. This portable oxygen was used strictly in ambulances and on the scene of medical emergencies. 1970’s was revolutionary for medical grade oxygen therapy advancements. Finally, you could own your own oxygen therapy unit in your home. Over the next 30 years, oxygen concentrators began to shrink, due to the demand by younger and more active oxygen therapy patients who wanted smaller and more mobile machines. Presently, oxygen concentrators are small enough to fit in a purse, bring bike riding, or even store under your seat on an airplane! Nowadays, some concentrators can weigh less than 3 pounds, others have over 10 hours of battery life, and some home units have an oxygen output upwards of 10,000 ml per minute. (Source-https://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/history-of-oxygen-therapy/)

Check the patents:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8016925B2/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1401557A1/en

Invention story is not complete without patent infringement litigation. Check `Separation Design Group IP Holdings, LLC,  filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Inogen,

Value Chain Governance and local innovations.

This paper `The influence of value‐chain governance on innovation performance: A study of Italian suppliers Emanuele Brancati, Carlo Pietrobelli and Caio Torres Mazzi' explores how value-chain governance affects the innovation performance of suppliers of intermediate products.

When the complexity of the relationship becomes too high, GVC linkages tend to depart from arms-length market transactions and firms have to rely on coordination mechanisms other than the mere setting of prices and quantities traditionally studied in economics. In ‘relational’ value chains, for example, complex transactions are managed through a high level of explicit coordination between buyers and suppliers, which tends to involve more enduring relationships and important exchanges of tacit knowledge across firms. On the other hand, companies in ‘modular’ value chains rely on technical standards and codification to exchange complex information, which provides them with higher flexibility and reduces switching costs, as well as the level of explicit coordination needed between buyers and suppliers.

They conclude that supplying intermediates is associated more strongly with innovativeness when the governance of the value chain is similar to a modular governance. 

Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry

 Salient features:

• The first component relates to incentivising manufacturing of four major food product segments viz. Ready to Cook/ Ready to Eat (RTC/ RTE) foods, Processed Fruits & Vegetables, Marine Products, Mozzarella Cheese.
• Innovative/ Organic products of SMEs including Free Range -Eggs, Poultry Meat, Egg Products in these segments are also covered under above component.
• The selected applicant will be required to undertake investment, as quoted in their Application (Subject to the prescribed minimum) in Plant & Machinery in the first two years i.e., in 2021-22 & 2022-23.
• Investment made in 2020-21 also to be counted for meeting the mandated investment.
• Press release: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1708691