What do your waveforms look like?

[herefishy]

I know that is a tad personal, but I think it was Cosmo posted a graph, and it was so different from mine it made me curious. His were gradual, and mine look like mountains, up and down and up and down. I don't have a snipping tool and can't figure out how to get the graphs to photobucket. Does the shape of your pressure waves make any difference to your therapy?

[avi123]

The shape of my breathing waves comply with the level of my Flow Limitations (FL) at that time.
When the top of the waves are flattened then the FL and the Pressure rise.





But when my FL is reduced then the waves become more rounded (on their tops) and the Pressure by my XPAP drops.

[herefishy]

What's the difference between flow and pressure? I see your pressure is constant. How does flow vary with constant pressure?

[Pugsy]

Pressure appears constant because to see the wave form flow we have to zoom in real close. Pressure increases or decreases don't happen in the blink of an eye. They are very gradual and zoomed in this close they appear to be constant but they might not be when using APAP mode. Flow graph is showing your breathing...in and out. So the flow graph doesn't represent pressure...instead it represents your breathing.

I don't have a snipping tool and can't figure out how to get the graphs to photobucket.

There's a little free program called Screen Hunter I think it is that a lot of the forum members use. There is a paid for version with more bells and whistles but it really isn't needed.
There are lots of free screen capture programs available. Just google free screen shot programs.
There's no need to pay for it.
There is a way of using the prt/scr key on the key board to capture a screen shot and use Paint to crop and save. It's more work than using something like Screen Hunter or the Snipping Tool.

In answer to your question about the shape of my wave flow affecting therapy. To be honest I haven't bothered to look at it that closely. Mostly if I zoom in on the flow (wave form) I am just looking to see if maybe a central (clear airway) event is preceded by a big gulp of air which would lead me to believe that maybe the central wasn't real and maybe a turn over in bed hold my breath central.

I have a graph somewhere that shows the flow differences. Let me see if I can find it. I don't remember where it is.....

[herefishy]

Thanks again Pugsy.

[idamtnboy]

What's the difference between flow and pressure? I see your pressure is constant. How does flow vary with constant pressure?

The pressure you see in the S9 charts is the therapy pressure setting. If you're operating in CPAP mode it stays constant. If in APAP mode you'll see it move up and down in response to apneas.

However, there are pressure data available that looks much like the flow graph. It is the pressure at the mask and is sampled at 25 Hz, just like flow is. I don't recall off hand the changes that have to be made in order to see it, but I think it is in the Resscan options menu. I don't know about SleepyHead. It really doesn't tell you much though, because it jumps up and down something awful, worse than a seismograph during an earthquake!

If I understand the machines correctly the fan speed varies quickly to vary the flow rate. A fan or pump can be made to adjust flow rate in response to back pressure while keeping the output pressure constant. The way the CPAPs measure and respond to one's breathing is, in my opinion, absolutely incredible.