Generation of high-concentration medical-grade nitric oxide via air-sourced pulsed arc discharge

Abstract

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator that has been shown to be effective in treating pulmonary hypertension in both adults and children with respiratory and heart failure. The most common method for delivering NO in clinical practice relies on compressed high-concentration NO gas stored in cylinders. This NO gas is typically synthesized through chemical methods and stored in high-concentration form within gas cylinders, making NO therapy equipment bulky and expensive. Moreover, chemical synthesis requires specific materials, and the production and storage of NO are two separate steps, both of which are complex and costly. These factors limit the widespread adoption of NO therapy. To address the issues associated with high-concentration NO cylinder therapy, this study explores a method for generating NO gas through the ionization of air via pulsed arc discharge, and further investigates strategies to increase its concentration. A portable NO generator is designed to produce high-concentration NO gas on-demand, providing a potential alternative to cylinder storage. The results show that the four-electrode NO generator can quickly and safely produce 545.2 ± 10 ppm of NO and reduce the co-production of other gases. The pulsed arc NO generator designed in this study generates sufficiently high concentrations of NO gas to replace cylinder storage with lightweight, portable, and capable of immediate on-demand generation. The generator produces NO gas from ambient air, thus significantly reducing the cost of inhaled NO therapy and paving the way for wider application of this therapy.