S9 & Respironics. Questions on leak values.

[Physician]

Been using the S9 auto set for over five years. Have tried many masks, including Dreamware viewtopic/t45424/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10 ... 5#p1033405 and the best mask has been the Mirage FX. No matter which mask is used, the leak is never zero. My S9 shows a one year average leak of 6 L/min and AHI 0.1 .

A friend has an S9 and uses Dreamware and claims the leak is zero. He also said that Respironics equivalent leaks are higher than ResMed because it uses a different system.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why is the leak measurement with a Respironics different from ResMed ?

2. Do any of you have a leak rate of zero ?

3. Does the ResMed leak value include the air leaving the exhaust ports ?

4. Does it make sense that a Mirage FX on a Respironics has a leak of 29 and on an S9 has a leak of 6 ?

[Pugsy]

4. Does it make sense that a Mirage FX on a Respironics has a leak of 29 and on an S9 has a leak of 6 ?

Yes...Respironics machines report total leak which is the intentional vent rate plus any excess leaks so their total leak number is always higher.
ResMed machines subtract a generic intentional vent rate prior to reporting the leak value which means it is excess leak only.

1. Why is the leak measurement with a Respironics different from ResMed ?

ResMed is pretty much the only machine that uses excess leak only.....all the other use some sort of total leak number that includes the vent rate.

Why?...that's just what they came up with....maybe they like being different.

3. Does the ResMed leak value include the air leaving the exhaust ports ?

No

2. Do any of you have a leak rate of zero ?

I don't think I ever have...if I did it was really, really rare...have had some almost totally flat 0.0 leak graphs but there's always a little blip somewhere it seems. Most of the time never come close to 0.0 and I don't worry about it as long as I am sleeping well and feeling decent.

[zoocrewphoto]

I use a Resmed S9 autoset. Either it cannot detect leaks, or my leaks are so small that they are cancelled out by the generic vent rate that is removed.

I am so sensitive to leaks that it doesn't happen long enough to show up in the graphs. I can't stand the feel or sound, so I wake up quickly. My summary graphs are blank for leaks. And my statistics shows a 0.0 for leaks regardless of how many months I set it for. All other data is there, so I suspect that what little leaks I have are eliminated from the data when the mask leak is filtered out.

[Physician]

I use a Resmed S9 autoset. Either it cannot detect leaks, or my leaks are so small that they are cancelled out by the generic vent rate that is removed.

I am so sensitive to leaks that it doesn't happen long enough to show up in the graphs. I can't stand the feel or sound, so I wake up quickly. My summary graphs are blank for leaks. And my statistics shows a 0.0 for leaks regardless of how many months I set it for. All other data is there, so I suspect that what little leaks I have are eliminated from the data when the mask leak is filtered out.

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

[zoocrewphoto]

I use a Resmed S9 autoset. Either it cannot detect leaks, or my leaks are so small that they are cancelled out by the generic vent rate that is removed.

I am so sensitive to leaks that it doesn't happen long enough to show up in the graphs. I can't stand the feel or sound, so I wake up quickly. My summary graphs are blank for leaks. And my statistics shows a 0.0 for leaks regardless of how many months I set it for. All other data is there, so I suspect that what little leaks I have are eliminated from the data when the mask leak is filtered out.

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

I checked in both Sleepyhead and ResScan. graphs and statistical data. For months and months. I don't have the first 6 weeks when I had major leaks getting used to the map. That computer died, and I have not gotten that data back. But I can't go to sleep if I can feel or hear a leak. And I wake up quickly if there is a leak.I can't stand them. I can sleep through pressure changes, but not leaks.

[Physician]

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

[zoocrewphoto]

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

I do not look at the LCD screen. I download the SD card and look at the data in ResScan. Because of your question, I also checked the data in Sleepyhead to see if it showed the same way.

I just looked at the screen, and it shows mask fit with a smiley face, not numbers. I looked at the clincian's mode and did not see a way to get a number. So, no idea there. I have been using ResScan since the second day of cpap, so I have never seen a reason to worry about the screen when I can see the full data on the computer.

[Physician]

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

I do not look at the LCD screen. I download the SD card and look at the data in ResScan. Because of your question, I also checked the data in Sleepyhead to see if it showed the same way.

I just looked at the screen, and it shows mask fit with a smiley face, not numbers. I looked at the clincian's mode and did not see a way to get a number. So, no idea there. I have been using ResScan since the second day of cpap, so I have never seen a reason to worry about the screen when I can see the full data on the computer.

Please press the upper and lower buttons down for five seconds, then when the sleep report appears, turn the knob one detent position counterclockwise. The Leak rate should be at the lower park of the screen.


SLEEPYHEAD
SHEET SHOWING ONE YEAR REPORT
Average Leak Rate 1.24 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45
90% Leak Rate 6.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
% of time above Leak Rate threshold 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

[zoocrewphoto]

So when you look at the sleep report on the screen, your leak rate = 0.00 L/min ?

I do not look at the LCD screen. I download the SD card and look at the data in ResScan. Because of your question, I also checked the data in Sleepyhead to see if it showed the same way.

I just looked at the screen, and it shows mask fit with a smiley face, not numbers. I looked at the clincian's mode and did not see a way to get a number. So, no idea there. I have been using ResScan since the second day of cpap, so I have never seen a reason to worry about the screen when I can see the full data on the computer.

Please press the upper and lower buttons down for five seconds, then when the sleep report appears, turn the knob one detent position counterclockwise. The Leak rate should be at the lower park of the screen.


SLEEPYHEAD
SHEET SHOWING ONE YEAR REPORT
Average Leak Rate 1.24 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45
90% Leak Rate 6.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
% of time above Leak Rate threshold 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Leak says 0.0 Were you expecting it to be different from the downloaded data?

[Pugsy]

Be aware of the definition of 90/95% numbers of any kind.....At OR Below that value shown.
People tend to forget the "or below" part of the definition.