S8 Vantage first impressions

dirk · Post by **dirk** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:17 am

Hey all.
I got my new S8 Vantage yesterday. Upgraded from an AutoSet Spirit.

First thoughts: WOW, It's small. The flow generator is about a third the size of a S7 or spirit. With humidifier, it is roughly the size of the S7 flow generator alone.

Carry bag: There are 2 removable pouches inside. Once for the generator, the other for the humidifier and or hoses. This would help a ton for packing it is a suitcase.

Noise. The machine is not significantly different in volume than my Spirit. It still whines a little bit when breathing in and out. It actually is a lower pitch than my sprit and a bit less annoying. YAY!

Humidifier: Smaller than S7/spirit. Looks like it holds less water. It heats up faster and is way way easier to fill. You can flip the lid up with the hose attached and remove the "pan" to fill, or just dump straight in. I take it off as the "fill" hole is kindof small and H20 on the night stand is not cool!

EPR: Kindof cool. I typically use auto, but I can really see this would be nice for straight CPAP users. Has settings of 1,2,3 cm H20 reduction. There is a bit of a delay when you exhale and it takes about 1 second to reach full lowering. The machine does not increase until you breathe again. It seems like it is working overtime constantly adjusting to keep up (set at 3).

Auto mode: Very similar to the Spirit.

Menu System: Same as Spirit.

Software download: So far I am unable to get the AutoScan 5.6 to get any data off of the ResScan card. There is no port on the back of the S8 without an optional adaptor.

Misc: The panel is dimmer, which is GREAT. I don't know why the lights have to be so bright on most machines. The backlighting on the display (only) shuts off after about 5 minutes. The keys are very dim. YAY! The machine has a bunch of whiz bang reminders that can be set from the menu or with the card for filters, masks, etc. Minimal usage IMO.

I'll update once I have a few more nights on it and figure out the software issue.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, hose, CPAP, auto

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:07 am

Cool review, dirk! Good information.

When you flip the top up on the humidifier, does the lid get out of the way enough if someone wanted to pour water in using a funnel?

Do you know if Autoscan 5.4 would work with the Vantage, or does it require version 5.6?

Is it optional to use either a ResScan card or a download cable, or does a card have to be used to get data?

If you hold your breath at the end of an exhalation, approximately how many seconds does the EPR wait until the pressure kicks back in?

I don't mean to grill ya! You gave a super review, so thought you might know the answers to my nosy questions. LOL!!

Sounds like it's doing a great job for you.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:12 am

Many thanks Dirk. I am one who appreciates your feedback (I may dump my S8 Escape & go for one of the EPR models possibly a Vantage).

I really liked the shape & size of the S8 models.

Cheers

DSM

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:27 am

Great review Dirk, very helpful.

And cool additional questions from rested gal (someone who uses a funnel to fill her humidifier.... ) sounds like you're planning to get one soon for test purposes...
There must be a secret CPAP loaning library somewhere in Tennessee....

O.

wading thru the muck! · Post by **wading thru the muck!** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:25 am

rested gal wrote:When you flip the top up on the humidifier, does the lid get out of the way enough if someone wanted to pour water in using a funnel?

There is room to use a funnel, but the way the inner chamber is set-up it will channel any slight misses back into the chamber. You may be able to go without the funnel

One thing about the humidifier cover... if you don't have it fully clicked into place the machine will make a very obnoxious trumpeting sound. My concern is that if the rubber seal on the cover gets worn or disfigured the machine will make this noise.

JudyAnn · Post by **JudyAnn** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:18 am

Last night was the first night I used my new Vantage S8 on Auto and at first (I must not have had the lid down tight enough) it made the most awful sounds, snorting, whining, you name it. I thought maybe it was the heated hose's fault (which I love) and then I fooled around with it and it settled down. Everything Dirk said about it is right on except I thought it was louder than my old machine as far as breathing sounds go.

My old machine was a ResMed Auto Respond and it was very quiet. I heard nothing when breathing in and out and nothing from the machine. I found that I was very conscious of the breathing noise with this machine. I am sure I will get used to it as I like the fact that I can press the right buttons and get the clinician's menu to see how I did the previous night. I have not purchased the software yet but I was told that it used the 5.6. Does there seems to be a problem with this Dirk????

I never before knew how I was doing so here are the readings from my first night at a pressure range of 6-20. Can someone let me know if this is OK or what? I forgot what these symbols mean and I have to look up what was on my original sleep test.

HI.......... 6.4
AI.......... .6
AHI........ 7.0
Leak...... .42
Pressure... 12.4

Thanks for the feedback.

Judy

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:46 am

Judy, those number do look good. Even your leak rate is low. You might be able to get your hypopnea index (HI) lower if the bottom pressure range was raised slightly. It sounds like your 90% pressure was 12.4, so you might want your bottom pressure to be up around 8 or so.

Generally it looks like you are getting good treatment with perhaps a small bit of improvement still possible.

JudyAnn · Post by **JudyAnn** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:17 am

Hey Bill,

Thanks for your input and advice. My original settings last year when they were set by the respiratory therapist at my doc's office was 6-13. When I got the new machine from CPAP for Seniors she set it at 4-20. I changed it to 6 because that was my original setting but I am going to put it at 8 tonight and see how I do.

Thanks a lot again.

Judy

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:45 am

Once you make a change to your settings, leave it that way for a few days (I'd suggest at least a week) for you to get used to it and get stabilized results. Of course, if you have serious problems with the new setting, that's a different matter!

JudyAnn · Post by **JudyAnn** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:54 am

Hey Bill,

That's a good idea because I think our bodies have to get used to new machines/masks and it may take a while. I don't think that raising it to 8 which is only 2 numbers will make that much of a difference but if it does, I will put it back down.

I am willing to take the "chance", after all its only breathing!!!!

HaHaHa....

Thanks again for your help.

Judy

lynn · Post by **lynn** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:59 am

Great reading your comments. Thanks!! I am really watching this new S8Vantage. It needs version 5.7

Just yesterday I was corresponding with Johnny Goodman about it and this was his reply about the software:

"... software available for the S8 Vantage. You can read about it here:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Resmed ... tware.html

Johnny"

lynn

cornpop16 · Post by **cornpop16** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:16 pm

hey I just got my S8 Vantage..It is my first cpap unit and I am lost with how to get the full use of it. How do I find out my info on my sleep? How do I change menu's my clinic put me on the standard menu..and he turned off leak alert..I want to be able to turn that back on....without having to take the whole unit back in to him.
any info would be helpfull!
Debbie

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:29 pm

Judy said her leak rate was reported as: Leak...... .42
Judy's using a ResMed machine. According to the clinician manual I have for the ResMed Spirit autopap, the leak number reported in the machine's display window is the "95th centile" leak number.

ResMed and Puritan Bennett machines calculate leak at litres per second.

Respironics machines machines calculate leak at litres per minute.

Hope I got that right. Math challenged me can sure misunderstand numbers, decimal points, and "per" anything! LOL!!

Anyway, the Spirit's clinical manual also states that the mean leak rate should not exceed 0.4.

The "mean" is different from a 95th percentile number, of course. I'm just wondering what "mean" number would correspond to Judy's 95th percentile number of .42 for that night?

I'm not good enough at math to even begin to figure something like that out. Anyone?

My edit was to make the correction to how PB figure leak rate - PB is per second, not per minute as I originally wrote. Many thanks to WAFlowers for pointing out my mistake!

JudyAnn · Post by **JudyAnn** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:55 pm

Hey RG, its all Greek to me that is for sure.

Of course, I kept taking the mask off a lot in the beginning because it was the first night and all and it was making noise. It also automatically turns on when you breathe and automatically turns off when you take it off.

I am learning from you and the other experts on this machine stuff and keeping track for the first time since I was diagnosed last July, 2004. Even though the machine is not as quiet as my other one, I am wiling to put up with it to see how I am doing.

Let me know what it all means. Thanks,

Judy

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 2:06 pm

rested gal wrote:Respironics machines and Puritan Bennett machines calculate leak at litres per minute.

Nope. SilverLining (for PB machines) reports in litres (liters?) per second. The leak rate I see with my Swift is typically in the same range Judy reported with occasional spikes if the pillows shift out of place.

Hope I got that right. Math challenged me can sure misunderstand numbers, decimal points, and "per" anything! LOL!!

I think you understand it better than you let on! Anyway, just multiply Judy's 0.42 by 60 to get 25.2Lpm.

Anyway, the Spirit's clinical manual also states that the mean leak rate should not exceed 0.4.

The "mean" is different from a 95th percentile number, of course. I'm just wondering what "mean" number would correspond to Judy's 95th percentile number of .42 for that night?

If my head is working (not sure today) then the mean should be lower than the 95th percentile. I think. (Can anyone confirm?)

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): Puritan Bennett, swift

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: i love resmed stuff!