420E compliance meter value

I picked up a new 420E and used it for one night. Everything was setup correctly with values 7 and 15 in APAP mode.
When I got up this AM, I checked the compliance meter and it reads 0. Time usage of the device is 8h (it was 2h).
Is there anything special I need to configure for the compliance meter? I thought it automatically turned on after 15 minutes.

Thanks .. jcarn

If I remember right, the 420E considers "compliance" to any period six hours or more. Is it possible that you slept slightly less than six hours?

BTW, the REMstar machines use a four hour bench mark for compliance.

(I am recalling from memory on this, so I may be wrong. Anybody out there feel free to correct me if I am wrong)

It is possible that I slept less than 6 hours .. but I thought the machine would register any amount of "usuage time" as compliance. If it is a 6 hour benchmark, then my compliance meter will always read 0 .. I may have to consider the RemStar if that's the case.

I couldn't find anything in the 420e clinician's manual or Silver Lining on-line manual to indicate compliance as 4, hours, 6 hours, or any set minimum time for that matter. Nor do I see any way to turn compliance recording on or off. Hopefully others with both manuals can check on this. My impression is that 420e compliance time is simply the measured hours and minutes that occur after these two criteria are met: 1) 15 minute settling period has expired, and 2) the 420e detects a patient's breath. If so, that would imply no minimum threshold or time criteria. Again, I could be missing something so I hope others can check their manuals and give their interpretation(s).

Based on criteria two mentioned above: if a 420e can't properly detect a patient's breath, then "usage time" will continue to get logged, yet "compliance time" will not record (will not advance on the meter). So one possible explanation for a 420e that records no compliance time is that it cannot properly sense a patient's breath. Can you or your DME take a look at your Silver Lining 3 data to make sure you do not register excessive leaks or other problems that data may bear out? In the meantime make sure there are no leaks in you mask, CPAP hose, pressure sensor line, etc. Also make sure your pressure sensor line is properly connected to the 420e with no kinks or bends in the hose.

I don't think you need to worry about that at all, jcarn. The machine is keeping track of your sleep session times whether you use it 30 minutes or 12 hours or more at a time.

I wonder if the "0" you're talking about is a setting (rather than hours) that you're looking at in the 420E's clinical menu? Meaning "compliance OFF". If so, I think that's the way it's supposed to be set...."Compliance" should be set for "OFF."

Compliance OFF doesn't mean the machine is not recording how much time you spend in your sleep sessions. It is. For example, if anyone downloads your 420E, there are several places in the Silverlining data to see how long you used the machine on any given day or night, as well as your average time per session.

I may be wrong about this (ozij, HELP! lol) but I think it would be a mistake to turn Compliance "On". If I remember correctly, I believe that setting is for use if a 420E were hooked to a remote computer for a realtime collection of raw data, generating a HUGE file that is read with a completely different software -- can't be read with Silverlining.

Just keep using your 420E with Compliance "off", jcarn. You're using it right, and it is keeping a record of your sleep times. The default for "Compliance" is OFF, and that's the way my 420E's have always been set.

If insurance or a DME or a doctor wants to do a download to see if you've been using the machine enough to satisfy their idea of compliance -- 4 hours, six hours, whatever -- that can be seen clearly in the "Global Compliance" chart which gives the Average Utilization Time per day.

The value I am looking at is the actual hours of Compliance usage.
When you scroll through the menu on the LCD display there is a Total hours usage and the next one is a Compliance hours usage. My total hours for the machine is 8h, but the Compliance Usage value is 0h. It should be 6h.

I'll check the tube and the pressure hose .. what I have noticed is a different reaction between my Aura and my Breeze. When I tried the Breeze, I took it off and the machine stopped and detected a leak. With the Aura, I took it off but the machine kept running as if I were still wearing it.
Last night I wore the Aura for 6 hours and the 420E didn't detect compliance usage. Kinda strange .. I'm going to test it out later today.

I see where the LCD panel has two compliance-related displays. One of those displays is either a "0" or "1" and reflects whether compliance is occurring and being recorded. This "0" or "1" display is referred to as the "compliance operation indicator" in the clinician manual. If you are breathing into the machine and the 15 minute settling period has expired, then this display should read "1". If either of those two criteria are not met then this display should read "0". There may be other reasons for it to display a "0" that are not mentioned in the manual. If this number reads a "0" then it may be no big deal as Rested Gal suggests.

The other compliance-related display on the LCD panel is the "compliance meter value". These are a running total of the number of hours you spent breathing into the machine when the 420e settling period was not in effect. This number can be viewed by repeatedly pressing what the manual refers to as the "information access key" (button).

If the "compliance meter value" number reads a "0" then that is a very big problem, indeed. Jcarn, do you happen to know which of those two compliance related displays you are viewing as a zero?

The value I am looking at is the actual hours of Compliance usage.

Didn't see that until after submitting my last post. I strongly suggest evaluating your entire circuit for massive leaks. If you don't have excessive leaks and your pressure sensor line is hooked up correctly then see your DME to have the machine checked out.

what I have noticed is a different reaction between my Aura and my Breeze. When I tried the Breeze, I took it off and the machine stopped and detected a leak. With the Aura, I took it off but the machine kept running as if I were still wearing it.
Last night I wore the Aura for 6 hours and the 420E didn't detect compliance usage. Kinda strange .. I'm going to test it out later today.

Didn't see that either until after my last post. If you can record compliance okay with the Breeze but the Aura logs no compliance hours, then suspect the Auta itself has a massive leak. If so, make sure the Aura components are fitted together correctly.

wow .. very strange

I did a little test today .. my Compliance usage still read 0 hours .. so I turned on the machine, connected the Aura and waited 15 minutes. Then I put the mask on for about 12 minutes. Checked the Compliance data and there it was, 6 hours and 12 minutes.
Maybe the Compliance user data is updated every 6 hours, so when I first used the machine for 6 hours, it showed 0 .. when I went over 6, that's where it begins "showing" data.
I think I'm all set .. thanks for the replies.

JCarn,
I understand you're only using the 420E's screen.

As a matter of fact, Silverlining lets you the user define what you consider the compliance base line. While 6 hours is the default, you can move it up or down to you heart's content, from 1 to 24 hours. The software then adds up the hours on your sessions during a one day period, (noon to noon) to give you an average of hours per day of complince. . So that parameter is no reason for you to consider a Remstar. Unless you prefer your compliance defined rigidly at 4 hours...

Redefining the length of time you consider "compliance" is done at (surprise surprise) the "Compliance" tab in the Silverlining software. When you're on the "Compliace report screen" ( first square icon in the middle,"looks a page" icon) at bottom right of the right half of the screen, where you have a tools (hammer screwdriver and wrench) icon.

In addition to this versatile reporting, Silvelining also let's you "play at sleep lab" so to speak. When asking for "data collection" on the machine managment screen, you can see the machine's report at realtime and create the data file Rested Gal is talking about. I haven't tried it, but I believe Silvelining itself can read that data.

By the way, a night with the little hose disconnected is dreadful - that's when you really suffocate - can't breathe wake up with a headache - really bad. If you ever feel you can't breathe on the machine, check the sensor hose. I was so tired, and so happy the machine was quiet that I didn't....

And thanks again, jcarn, for you rubber band tip on the Aura - it is much better for me than the "soft strap" suggested by Rested Gal (since when are you into euphemisms, RG?). I use the Aura happily on the 420E, alternating with the Breeze.

O.

Hi ozij,

I'm looking forward to trying out Silverlining. My main concern was that the 420E was not gathering data, hence the 0h Compliance usage meter. But now that that is OK, I'm ready to roll!

I often try to flip flop between the Aura and the Breeze, but I just can't get comfortable with the Breeze .. I always put on the Aura instead.

A bit off topic here .. I'm working on a different project .. lab ratting with the Aura / Breeze interface.
I 've chopped up the extra nasal piece from the Aura, trying to fit the Breeze nasal plugs into it. I like the "feel" of the Breeze plugs but really like how the headgear on the Aura works .. we'll see what transpires .. hehe