Autoset vs Vauto

[Ken Kong]

I have a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset and tolerate it well, use it every night. I was recently given a brand new Aircurve 10 Vauto from a friend that has never used it. I read a bit online about it, it seems like an upgraded machine over the Airsense. I plan on giving the Aircurve a try soon and was looking at the clinical menu on both machines. The Airsense I am currently using is set to a Min Pressure of 4.0 and a Max Pressure of 20.0 but the Aircurve is a little different in the settings department. There is a CPAP mode, and S mode and VAuto mode. In the VAuto mode there is a Max IPAP and a Min EPAP. Are these Min IPAP & Max EPAP pressures the same thing as on the Airsense. Do I set the Max IPAP to 20.0 and the Min EPAP to 4.0? Does anyone know what the S mode is exactly? I also noticed in CPAP mode on this Aircurve only has one single pressure setting, am I looking at that correctly? There are other setting and I will list them - PS - Ti Max - Ti Min - Trigger - Cycle. It doesn't seem like I can set the ramp or humidity level to auto on the Aircurve also, but maybe i am looking at it wrong? Lastly, does anyone know if the Aircurve is compatible with the heated tube?

Thank you very much in advance for any help and guidance!

[Pugsy]

AirCurve 10 machines are heated hose capable and you can use the same heated hose as you use with the AirSense 10 AutoSet.

Bilevel meaning 2 distinct pressures available

S mode on the AirCurve 10 is a fixed bilevel mode...

Auto is of course auto adjusting bilevel pressure mode.

Are you using EPR at all on your AutoSet? Probably wouldn't need to with a minimum pressure of 4 but you might be having it kick in later.

If you want to mimic the AutoSet setting and you aren't using EPR....
Set minimum EPAP to 4.0
Set PS (Pressure Support) to 0.0
Set Maximum IPAP to 20
It essentially doesn't have 2 pressures and will function like the APAP as long as there is no exhale relief involved.

Now if you use EPR and like it...we need to do a little different adjusting to allow for when EPR kicks in.
Using EPR creates a bilevel situation so we then adjust PS so the end result matches what you have for EPAP and IPAP when EPR is used.

Go here and request the clinical manual...it has more information in it than the typical user manual.
https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual

[palerider]

I'll add to what Pugsy says by adding that your previous settings of 4-20 are not at all optimal, it's the minimum and maximum possible settings.

Leaving the vauto set to defaults except changing PS to 0 would give the same thing.

Post some sleepyhead charts from your autoset and let's see how you can improve.

[Ken Kong]

Pugsy, thanks so much for responding! When I got the Airsense and started CPAP almost 2 years ago, the EPR was not turned on. Once I got used to the machine I got bored one day and was looking at and reading about all the settings in the clinical menu. I read about EPR and turned it on. I tried the lowest setting and then went up a bit from there to 3 after a few weeks. It is now set on setting 3, full time. I do notice a difference and i do like it! I can definitely tell there is less pressure against my exhale with EPR on and that helps me tolerate CPAP much better!

Thank you for posting the link! I will take a look and let you know if I have any questions. If you have any setting suggestions to mimic the Airsense with the EPR on I would appreciate it.

BUT....one last thing. I don't want to waste anyone's time. Is there any advantage to using this machine over the Airsense? The cost of this machine and the more complex settings make it seem like it would be an upgrade over the Airsense, but I don't know. I sleep just fine with the Airsense. Maybe I just keep using the Airsense and use this VAuto as a back-up in case the Airsense ever fails? Or better yet, I could put it on Ebay and give my buddy that gave it to me the money if it sells. If you tell me that there is very little or no advantage using this machine over the Airsense that will tell a lot. I have been reading around this board a bit and it seems this Aircurve does not have an auto ramp feature. I use the auto ramp on the Airsense so I see this Aircurve as having 1 strike against it already for that reason.

Thanks!

[Ken Kong]

Palerider....interesting information.

I Googgled "Sleepyhead CPAP" and it said the sleepyhead project has shut down....but I figured I could still download the software, so I found the link to do so and it says it is for Windows Vista. That was like 15 years ago, correct? Am I looking at the right thing?? Also, I assume to capture data from the Airsense I will need an SD card? I have one with the Aircurve, but there is not one in the Airsense. I assume they are compatible?

Thank you!

[palerider]

Palerider....interesting information.

I Googgled "Sleepyhead CPAP" and it said the sleepyhead project has shut down....but I figured I could still download the software, so I found the link to do so and it says it is for Windows Vista. That was like 15 years ago, correct? Am I looking at the right thing?? Also, I assume to capture data from the Airsense I will need an SD card? I have one with the Aircurve, but there is not one in the Airsense. I assume they are compatible?

Thank you!

I think it's "it'll work on windows vista or newer versions of windows.

you can still download the current software: https://www.apneaboard.com/sleepyhead/

The replacement software is going to be starting soon.

[bonjour]

use this
www.apneaboard.com/sleepyhead/
Later this month you should see OSCAR - Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter A fork of SleepyHead that will be supported.

[palerider]

BUT....one last thing. I don't want to waste anyone's time. Is there any advantage to using this machine over the Airsense? The cost of this machine and the more complex settings make it seem like it would be an upgrade over the Airsense, but I don't know.

There answer to that is *maybe*.

There are some tweaks available on the VAuto that aren't on the Airsense.

I sleep just fine with the Airsense. Maybe I just keep using the Airsense and use this VAuto as a back-up in case the Airsense ever fails?

I recommend always having a backup machine. I do, many other people do too.

Or better yet, I could put it on Ebay and give my buddy that gave it to me the money if it sells.

Ebay doesn't allow the sale of cpaps... sometimes some sneak through, but they'll cancel the listing if they see it. Craiglist however is loaded with cpaps.

If you tell me that there is very little or no advantage using this machine over the Airsense that will tell a lot. I have been reading around this board a bit and it seems this Aircurve does not have an auto ramp feature. I use the auto ramp on the Airsense so I see this Aircurve as having 1 strike against it already for that reason.

You said your min setting on the autoset is 4, that makes the ramp superfluous. If your treatment pressure starts at 4, then there's nothing to ramp up to... since ramp goes from rampstart pressure to treatment pressure, and the machine can't go below 4.

[metsfan302]

use this
www.apneaboard.com/sleepyhead/
Later this month you should see OSCAR - Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter A fork of SleepyHead that will be supported.

it was an evil take over, mark was right lol jk

[bonjour]

use this
www.apneaboard.com/sleepyhead/
Later this month you should see OSCAR - Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter A fork of SleepyHead that will be supported.

it was an evil take over, mark was right lol jk

Everything that was being done, and I do mean everything, was to help Mark.
Then Mark shutdown the SleepyHead project.
Then, and only then, we decided to act and form a fork to perpetuate the software.

[palerider]

use this
www.apneaboard.com/sleepyhead/
Later this month you should see OSCAR - Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter A fork of SleepyHead that will be supported.

it was an evil take over, mark was right lol jk

That's not even remotely funny.

None of this happened till mark wigged out and posted the notice that he'd shut down sleepyhead.

[Ken Kong]

Can I take the SD card out of the AirCurve & put it into the Airsense & will it just start recording the data for me? From there I just need to remove it & get the info from it? How long should I record the data (how many nights do you suggest) before taking it out to retrieve the data?

Thanks so much! I plan on putting some time into this soon so I can optimize my therapy.

[Jas_williams]

I suggest you get another SD card so you have one for each machine they are only cheap, after sleeping for one night on the new machine post a daily chart so we can see if optimisation is required

[Okie bipap]

You can move the card from one machine to the other and it will erase all information that is on the card. I would prefer to simply purchase a new card and insert it in the machine. Cards are inexpensive and readily available.

[Pugsy]

How long should I record the data (how many nights do you suggest) before taking it out to retrieve the data?

I would do it after the first night... my curiosity would get the best of me.

SleepyHead won't care if you have multiple machines listed under one user profile...

As for using the same card...I don't know if the machine will like using a card that has another machine's data on it.
I haven't tested the AirSense/AirCurve machines to see if they care but the S9 models wouldn't let you do it. It only wanted one machine data at a time on the card.

You can take the old card and insert it in the new machine...see if it bitches about it and prompts you to erase it or not...if it doesn't then it probably doesn't care.
I think I would still use a separate card though. Never hurts to have a spare card.