What would you like to see on your next-generation machine?
Things I've thought about:
Obvious no-brainer additions in order of importance to me:
- Keep [many more] nights of high-rate and medium rate data on machine, even without SD card. Transfer the high-rate and medium-rate data to SD card upon insertion, so we don't lose data when we forget to put the card in one night. Because we do forget sometimes, durnit.
- A decent integrated eight-foot heated hose with more durable transition between hose and hose end.
- Show me the time in big numbers (maybe date too, but smaller) on the home screen. It's not like there isn't room.
- Better time-keeping, perhaps with radio-enabled atomic-clock sync. Admin-settable. [Popular]
- Admin-settable day-light savings preferences.
- Patient-settable screen-brightness. Button and tank brightness/on/off. [Popular]
- Patient-selectable screen 'themes' - regular colors and dark theme colors. How about a variety?
- Stay away from light blue backgrounds on patient-available screens, because light blue is supposed to be a wake-trigger. Admin screens can be bright. This is more about the normal patient screens that blind us in the middle of the night with bright colors when we're up for a pee break. Let's reduce that. There could even be a light sensor. Use a bright color scheme when the lights are on and darker colors when the lights are off.
- Use bigger fonts on a larger AMOLED screen.
- Ramp-on-demand button, especially for high pressures during mid-sleep wake-ups. [Popular]
- Even quieter machine. Let's see if we can get rid of the whistle on the S9, anything parallel on the PRS1. [Popular]
- [ edited version from StuUnderPressure ] Give me a visual cue on screen: a "warning" dialog that tells me the machine is still writing to the SD card when I turn off the blower, or store all waiting data immediately to the card when I turn the blower off. Allow me to turn the machine back on even if the dialog is still saving.
- Inexpensive integrated patient-available oximetry option with high-rate data plethy capture. Yes, sleepyhead comes closest to integration, but PR and ResMed are both losing a whole market of patients by not making this a cheap and easily accessible option. Oximetry needs no prescription. This really seems like a no brainer to me, but also seems less likely than the others above because the makers are probably being pressed by DME's to keep patients out of the loop. That seems like bad science and bad health to me, but what do I know?
- O2 earlobe clip that doesn't leave marks or hurt -- or a finger oximeter that isn't unwieldy and doesn't hurt or leave marks.
- Aerophagia event capture (since it can wake some of us), and patient-optional aerophagia-based intelligent pressure reduction in Auto models.
- Inexpensive integrated patient-available thoracic band option
- Pack-and-go tank - doesn't spill or leak when stowed in travel bag with water still in the tank
- In general, less proprietary methodology. It's nice to see SD cards incorporated in this generation of devices, as well as open-source data recording methods. How about inexpensive oximetry the same way? Open-source makes for a bigger user base...
- Open Source Raspberry Pi interface
- Make available five or ten extra user-definable graph sections for the S10 Autoset/PRS2 Auto.
- Create open source data logger using Raspberry Pi hardware and an interface cord that will allow users to capture high-rate or medium rate data and log it on the machine. This could be insanely useful for sleep medicine students who can't afford the big machines or time in the sleep lab, but want to prototype a new data logger. It could also be useful for hobbyists who want to get even more education and entertainment out of their own machines. It would also give sleep apnea machine developers a wider pool of makers who like to hack and create brilliant interfaces that could outshine or eclipse current standards.
- Things that could be measured include:
- Ambient external stimuli: light, sound, movement of other people, pets.
- Ambient room humidity, temperature, etc., as wake-trigger. (For me 74 degrees and 70% humidity is a wake trigger.)
- Body position: right/left side, belly, back...
- Plethysmography, heart rate, O2, CO2, etc.
- Wifi/bluetooth connection to phone or computer
- RF Remote control option. On/off, humidity up or down, hose heat up/down, ramp.
- Offline data collection/viewing
- Email compliance data to insurance
- Get rid of "Auto-IQ" and any other nasty machine that attempts to remove the patient from having a hand in their own therapy.
- Coffee butler option...
- Pour green, unroasted beans into optional coffee tank.
- Tank roasts coffee to desired darkness.
- Tank grinds coffee as necessary for either percolator, drip or espresso (noiselessly, of course...)
- Optional dispensers for cream, frothed milk, non-dairy creamer, flavors, alcoholic additives automatically set to dispense preferred additives.
- Coffee is poured into reusable porcelain-lined adult sippy cup, with aroma acting as alarm clock.
- jdm2857's addendum:
- humidifier tank auto-fills with coffee in the morning. Yeah - that'll wake you up!
- Pre-ASV algorithms - smart algorithms that detect when ASV might be a more useful approach and attempt ASV if appropriate.
- PRS2-Specific List:
- Optional humidifcation lock-set in patient settings area.
- Better filter guard to keep filter from popping out when coughing or sneezing. [Popular]
- trade-in mandate to get older, still useful machines out to people who will use them, can't afford them, need them.
- A single machine to meet almost everyone's needs: APAP/Auto - since APAP's can be set to straight CPAP. Makers could concentrate on making a better low-end machine that fits a higher number of users' needs. (BiPAP and ASV are going to need more than a quick MacSleepStudy anyway.)
- For users capable of controlling their own therapy, in the same way diabetics control their own therapy, all data should be made freely available so patients can make those decisions with an informed, educated view.
- Incorporate 16 or 32GB high-speed flash NVRAM into blower box. Keep one or more year's full- and medium-rate and statistical data available on the machine. Save all data - stop discarding it until the memory is nearly full - then enable the standard round-robin deletion method. It's not like the technology couldn't do it. Transfer to SD card as needed, using a patient-setting. Allow USB3.0 connection to transfer data from NVRAM to computer for faster transfer of GB of data.
- Easily replaceable time-keeping battery - no soldering required, no special tools required - just a slot on the bottom or side of the machine. Standard time-keeping batteries - nothing proprietary.
- Flip-up touchscreen.
- Bluetooth App Update
- Oxygen Considerations:
- Concentrator connectivity - turn on/off concentrator when the CPAP is turned on/off.
- O2 cylinder connectivity smart valve - turn on/off cylinder when CPAP is turned on/off.
- O2 twofer valve - Intelligent valve switch that turns on cylinder if concentrator fails and CPAP remains on, or if cylinder is empty, turn off the cylinder and turn on the concentrator if CPAP remains on. Patient-selectable preference for cylinder or concentrator as main and backup. Optional alarm if neither cylinder or concentrator are available. (This is an on-off valve with safety shutoff. Actual O2 settings are done manually on cylinder or concentrator.)
- Reduce line clutter to the hands, face.
- Encore Viewer and Pro
- Improve encore software
- Higher-resolution graphing on screen
- Better accessibility of data on screen rather than as a printout
- Better printouts.
- Better data archiving for Encore viewer. Allow encore viewer to keep a copy of all previous data on the computer - not just view what's on the card.
- Find a better method than SQL database for Encore Pro, because - wow - is that unweildy for this kind of data.
- PRS2-specific
- Ramp for Cflex/Aflex
- Turn Cflex/Aflex on/off while machine is on.
- More intuitive large leak indicator on screen. Other intuitive on-screen alerts when therapy needs are not met. [Popular]
- Sleep Position Sensor for Auto users
- Free patient-avaiable firmware upgrade option to make use of new capabilities when the older machine is still perfectly suitable for the upgrade.[Popular]
- Free patient-avaiable firmware upgrade for machines found to have flaws in their firmware.[Popular]
- Free patient-avaiable firmware upgrade option to make AutoIQ-type machines into full Auto.[Popular]
- BPA-free constituent materials
- No outgassing materials in any of the materials used on the S10 or the PRS2 including:
- blower
- blower housing
- machine frame
- humidifier tank
- filters
- masks
- hoses
- O2 tubing
- Travel XPAP that is significantly lighter than today's XPAP's. The lightest ones are currently just under three pounds (1.36Kg). Let's get them under a kilogram (2.2 pounds).
- Maximize efficiency of travel humidifier: smallest possible size of humidifier while still providing a reasonable volume of water used in a night by an average user. [Thumb Down] on smaller tank
- Alarm clock. Along with being able to set the machine's clock, allow us to let the machine double as an alarm clock. That's one less thing to pack. [Thumb Down]
- Luggage: [Popular]
- Better-padded
- securable
- roomier
- decent stowage pockets, flaps, compartments, etc. for extra CPAP equipment.
- An official-looking well-placed patch that clearly shows the luggage is medical equipment on flights. (Velcroed and stowable inside the luggage for when we don't want to advertise the luggage as medical equipment.)
- Enough room for an eight-foot hose, a hose-cover, two masks, chin straps, various adapters and a liter of water.
- Patient advocate smartphone app.
- Alerts sent to patient advocate (parent's, sibling's, nurse's) phone
- Alerts on mask leak, mask off, over-long apnea, machine restart, (others?)
- Local wifi-enabled, live feed of data.
- PRS2-Specific List:
- In-line HEPA filter that isn't unweildy.
- Already available... Dishwasher-safe easy-to-clean tank.
- Activated-charcoal odor-absorbing pre-filter
- Snore detection when mask is off. Mask face-fart detection.
- Forthcoming... (?)
- Full-color brightness-controllable AMOLED display