Can an auto Bi-PAP be set to work like an APAP?

SelfSeeker · Post by **SelfSeeker** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:01 am

Can an auto Bi-PAP be set to work like an APAP?

Either by a setting control or by using the same inhale and exhale numbers?

curtcurt46 · Post by **curtcurt46** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:52 am

That's a good question. I don't think you can get an auto Bipap to work the same as say an auto cpap with cflex. I believe you can set the bipap to a single pressure but not auto adjust. This is just my quess.
curtcurt46

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:58 pm

curt is right.

The BiPAP Auto cannot be set to work just as an autopap.

It can be set to work just as a cpap, doing what curt said... setting the exhale and inhale pressures on the same number.

Can also be set to work just as a bipap (one pressure for inhaling, another lower pressure for exhaling) without auto-titrating at the same time.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:41 pm

Only one model I know of can do both Auto and Bipap and that is a special clinical machine used for sleep studies (Respironics Quartet).

Most Autos can do CPAP and most Bilevels can do CPAP.

Cheers

DSM

#2 Added thoughts.
On thinking about the Bipap Auto. It does the Auto adjusting between 2 Ipap settings and concurrently between 2 Epap settings but *not* between the Ipap and Epap settings which is more or less what an Auto does (range between 2 pressures).

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Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:25 pm

dsm wrote:On thinking about the Bipap Auto. It does the Auto adjusting between 2 Ipap settings and concurrently between 2 Epap settings but *not* between the Ipap and Epap settings which is more or less what an Auto does (range between 2 pressures).

You lost me on that part.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:23 pm

Anonymous wrote:
dsm wrote:On thinking about the Bipap Auto. It does the Auto adjusting between 2 Ipap settings and concurrently between 2 Epap settings but *not* between the Ipap and Epap settings which is more or less what an Auto does (range between 2 pressures).
You lost me on that part.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:46 pm

dsm wrote:#2 Added thoughts.
On thinking about the Bipap Auto. It does the Auto adjusting between 2 Ipap settings and concurrently between 2 Epap settings but *not* between the Ipap and Epap settings which is more or less what an Auto does (range between 2 pressures).

I think it might be a bit confusing to speak of "2 Ipap" settings and "2 Epap" settings as if there were two actual settings that can be put in for EPAP and two to be put in for IPAP on the BiPAP Auto. The example you gave in your next post seems to add to the confusion when you speak of a max/min for EPAP and a max/min for IPAP.

There's only one setting for EPAP called "min EPAP", and one setting for IPAP called "max" IPAP.

I suppose what you're thinking of when you speak of "2 settings" for each has to do with an additional separate setting in the BiPAP Auto...the PS (Pressure Support) setting which keeps the EPAP/IPAP no closer than 3 cms together and no more than 8 cms apart. But that's not like setting two pressures for EPAP and two pressures for IPAP.

I don't think the BiPAP Auto works quite the way you're describing it when in one of its modes that includes autotitrating (ABPAP or AbFLE.)

It's very easy to set and use the BiPAP Auto. It's not so easy to understand or to explain how the BiPAP Auto works. I may not be expressing it right either.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:55 pm

Rested Gal,

I was being competely theoretical in describing it and agree that this attempt may easily create more confusion that it tries to remove.

While I have a new one of these it is with someone to trial and I have not yet actually got my hands on it so my description was a theoretical way to describe the auto part vs the bipap part. I mistakenly though the Epap & Ipap each had a range setting - I knew there was the setting for keeping a gap but I may even have that misunderstood.

Am sure you could offer a much simpler description and please do.

Thanks

DSM

(PS: I will have my hands on the Quartet within a week )

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 10:03 pm

dsm wrote:I have not yet actually got my hands on it so my description was a theoretical way to describe the auto part vs the bipap part. I mistakenly though the Epap & Ipap each had a range setting - I knew there was the setting for keeping a gap but I may even have that misunderstood.

Ahhh... thanks for clarifying that you've not actually had a BiPAP Auto yet and were just guessing about how it might operate. Your posts were reading like fact, and I was getting confused.