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Is Optiflow a ventilator?


No.

A ventilator provides a respiratory support therapy known as mechanical ventilation, which usually requires the patient to be sedated.

Some ventilators can also provide Optiflow NHF therapy provided the correct equipment and settings are implemented, so your options are:

1. You can use a dedicated, standalone device such as the Airvo Optiflow system or
2. You can use an NHF-capable mechanical ventilator. We call this a vent-driven system

See below and for more details 
download our equipment guide

Airvo Optiflow NHF system

The following figure demonstrates what is required for an Airvo Optiflow system.  

Vent-driven Optiflow NHF system

The following figure demonstrates what is required to enable your NHF-capable mechanical ventilator to form part of a vent-driven Optiflow system.