No doubt: Here's an Inspired product

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Sales representatives for Inspired Technologies are looking for a specific type of provider to handle the company's new VIAspire Liquefier liquid oxygen manufacturing system. "We're going to be choosy about who we work with," said President and CEO Dan Easley, who described the ideal provider as "someone who is clearly tired of me-too products and who is looking for a compelling strategy that distinguishes them in the marketplace." Company officials describe the VIAspire as "a liquid oxygen plant in the home"; it's a 170-pound piece of equipment that converts gas from a concentrator into liquid oxygen. VIAspire serves as a filling station for the company's SmartDose portable liquid unit, which features technology that monitors a patient's exertion level and adjusts accordingly. Easley said he is "99% sure" the VIAspire system will be covered under the Medicare oxygen code covering transfilling concentrators (K0738). Borrowing from the hot water heater concept, the liquefier's purpose is to generate and store liquid oxygen so that it is readily available for use, Easley said. The process of creating liquid oxygen, called liquefaction, has been kicked around the respiratory industry for several years. It utilizes concepts taken from missile guidance systems, as well as the nuclear, cryogenic and aerospace industries. Easley and Vice President Rich Kocinski said they achieved the technological breakthrough after diligently researching ways to make the liquefier scalable for home use. Even though they have developed their first version, Kocinski said, the design is in a continual state of review. "If two Medtrades from now we're still looking at the same product, there's something wrong," Kocinski said.