made-to-order masks

[lindyjoy]

Some of us buy off-the-rack. Some of us are custom-fit types. How come no one (at least to my knowledge!) has thought of making cpap masks to fit the user. I mean really "manufacture", not just ribbon and bows, tape and elastic bands. Each of us has different needs, shaped faces, etc. If you read over the posts, we all have so many complaints about the way they slip off, slide, leak, hurt, suffocate, whistle, leave marks and so on. I myself have now tried 4 different masks in 1 year and hate them all equally. Further so much money is invested each time we try a different one, even if it is only for return insurance; to say nothing about lost sleep. My vision of the world certainly is different depending on how many nights of lousy sleep I chalk up. I am really getting desperate even though I have yet another new mask on order. Would really like to consider this as a business/service opportunity. Any takers? Any thoughts?
Lindyjoy

[tuna]

Just think of all the money they would loose if the mask fit right the first time around!

[Portageegal]

If I were younger and had money to start a business I certainly would go that route. I don't know why a mold of the face can't be made and a mask or even a pad/gasket thingy couldn't be made to fit the contours of the face. I'm thinking of getting a piece memory foam and cutting a pad for the edges of my FFM.

[skittles]

Funny, I was thinking just that yesterday.

If they can make a boil and fit retainer or night guard, who can't they make a boil and fit mask insert??

Seems so simple, doesn't it??

Take Care

Skittles

[JeffH]

They do, just not in this country.

JeffH

[skittles]

What country makes them??

skittles

[DreamStalker]

Australia.

[OldLincoln]

A long time ago I "engineered" my perfect mask but never built it. I fussed a lot over the cushion designing air chambers that would increase force with pressure changes, etc. I considered using a face mold to shape the mask itself so my cushions could be replaced cheaply. However it is too dependent on everything remaining the same over time and would be quite expensive (and low volume) especially with refits as people lost/gained weight.

My alternative would be a DME solution (I know... Boo!) that would have them skip the mold and do a heat and fit in-house. It would be like this: Rather than shape the entire body, a small intermediate insert would be fitted between the hard body and cushion. The insert would be fit using a jig to maintain the upper (mask) side and it would be heated then placed on the (protected) face with exact pressure to mold it. The body itself would be manufactured with height reduced to compensate. The cushion would accept the changed contour via my air chamber design so replacements would not be an issue.

For another alternative, I have considered facial structure (high cheek bones, narrow bridge, etc.) may be a reliable gauge and inserts could be designed for both type and size. This would bypass the DME but possibly result in a lesser quality fit.

I had planned to keep all this to myself in case I decided to go forward with it. But I don't have the energy or will to do it anymore, so I guess it will go on the bookshelf with the rest of my "coulda, shoulda" collection.

[DreamStalker]

OR ....

you could go to Milwaukee or the UK and get a face to fit your mask --

The world's first full face transplant should be announced within the next year, the leader of the UK Facial Transplantation Research Team has said.

Professor Peter Butler spoke after the first facial transplant operation was carried out in the United States, the fourth such operation in the world.

The Cleveland Clinic, in Milwaukee, announced that reconstructive surgeon Dr Maria Siemionow had replaced 80% of a woman's face with that of a female donor.

Professor Butler said: "We congratulate Dr Siemionow and her Cleveland transplantation team and wish the brave patient well for the future."

Asked when the UK team would perform the world's first full facial transplant, Professor Butler said: "We hope to make an announcement about this within the next 12 months."

The team, based at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, has ethical permission for a research programme of four facial transplants.

The world's first partial face transplant took place in France three years ago on a woman who had been mauled by her dog. Two others have been announced since then -- a Chinese farmer attacked by a bear and a European man disfigured by a genetic condition.

Such transplants are controversial, because they are aimed at improving a patient's quality of life rather than saving it, and require recipients to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their life.

The nature of the injuries or disfigurement that prompted the Cleveland case are not yet known.

More details of the patient are due to be made public.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... 5rxR6MoWCw

Can you please make me a face to fit inside this mask doc?

I see no controversy with a CPAP patient wanting a good face-to-mask fit

[fuzzy96]

where's skinner at ?
we'll get him to make a program to 3d map your face- feed it to a multi-axis cutter that will cut a mask blank to a perfect fit.
then we have to get a patent
then we get liability insurance
then get fda approval
then we hire bloodsuckers (lawyers) to sue copycats
then........ then.....

[mindy]

Apparently there actually is such a business - my RT has been promising to get me the nameand address. It's someone in the Boston area.

Mindy

[DreamStalker]

http://www.sleepapneamasks.com.au/default.asp

[rested gal]

Perhaps a "custom" mask made from a mold of one's face would work, but..... when a person turns to other sleep positions, or the head pillow is squashed, bunched up, etc. against the cheek, I'd think all bets are off as to whether a custom mask would work any better than the usual masks.

With any mask (including, in my mind, a custom mask) best results are going to be from the way the cushion itself is designed. And I don't mean how it's custom "designed" to fit one person's face. I mean how it's designed to withstand air filling it in general. Like the way the Activa mask's cushion is almost leakproof for most people.

I'd think that even a custom mask is going to have trouble sealing or being "comfortable" if the mold or digital mapping is made while a person is, say, lying on his/her back with mouth closed during the design process, but at home actually sleeps on his/her side, turns over often, jaw drops some (or a lot), burrows side of face into pillow, shape of cheek changes, etc. I think many of the same problems people have with "regular" masks would turn up in short order with a custom mask, too.

It seems that just about any mask can be ok if a person lies perfectly still after it's adjusted. But once you add in the movements that people actually do in their sleep... dunno if "custom" would really be much better. I think it's one of those ideas that "looks better on paper..."

[kopoloff]

Let me tell you about my solution to the leaking mask situation. Like anything, you need to ask the engineers when you have a problem, so I set my mind to it. It took a while, a bit of experimentation, and as always, no solution comes without a few deadends, a bit of pain and frustration and then finally, the breakthrough.

The problem seemed to me to be that our faces are all different, we all sleep in different positions, and our needs are all different. The task is to limit mask movement, eliminate potential for misfitting, and create a solution that is easy to manage, reliable, repeatable and, of course, comfortable.

After much consultation with a number of professionals, such as anatomists, plastic surgeons, plastics experts and even a psychologist, I have developed a solution which I am prepared to share with you. Although a little difficult to implement, the results have been outstanding.

I have a number of patent applications pending, but I am prepared to give you advance notice of what is potentially the most significant development in OSA treatment in recent years.

It may seem bizarre, but my solution owes quite a lot to the technology used with colostomy bags, which must form a liquid (and gas!!!) tight seal at the air/skin interface.

I have to go now, so I’ll give you a description tomorrow. In the meantime, I can reveal that the prototype, in testing, has given phenomenal results, with a leak line at 0.0023, a standard deviation of 0.00054, and no excursions above the baseline of more than 3%. This is measured over 15 nights.

More later

Cheers

K

[lindyjoy]

Such good ideas from you all--and here I sit, complaining and tired. I NEED A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP!!!!! Someone do something!!! Okay so maybe the next mask will be the charm for me. But you engineer types who have done the research and have the prototypes, please note that sometimes "the only means of transportation is a leap of faith"! Someone has to change what is out there and it only takes one person to begin to create huge change. There are far too many of us that are tired and unhappy with the available mask products. You guys have the info., the knowledge. Consider getting it together and seeing what comes of it? I'm in, if you are. As a clinical social worker I know that being pro-active can change the face of the world. I am not just talking here.I will follow-through. What do you think?
Lindyjoy