Aircurve 10 V Auto

[Dusk2Dawn]

Hello all,

Been using a RESMED Aircurve 10 V auto, and a few questions on settings, hope someone has some insight. [[ eph ….. events /hr ]]

When using therapy mode (s) from the Dr., the screen shows a bar graph with both the IPAP of 14 and EPAP 11 showing , and the PS [ whatever that is … covers that range PS = 3 in this case ] so the bar graph shows from 11 to 14 and PS = 3 being used. [ with varying amounts of eph ]

When I enter the VAuto mode, I set the Max IPAP to 13 and min EPAP to 10.2 values, but PS shows 0.6 ( by default ? ) in this window. When I lie down to sleep, the bar graph shows 10.2 and 10.8 , but when I check in the morning it shows 11.2 - 11.8 . [ I may add I’m getting around 1 eph and better #’s than the Dr. settings above ! ]

My questions are…
1. what is PS stand for, what is it for, and should I change it for V Auto mode ?
2. If bar graph shows 11.2 -11.8 in the morning with the mask on , does the Resmed ever reach the IPAP setting of 13 I entered ?
3. In V Auto mode does the Resmed sense the level I need for IPAP and EPAP and adjusts them between those 2 levels for best results, using the PS as a guide ?

[loggerhead12]

Min EPAP is the lowest pressure the machine will ever blow after ramping up. When you have obstructive events or flow limitations the machine will increase the EPAP to try to get air past the obstruction.

PS is pressure support. This is the additional pressure that is added when you inhale. It's a comfort setting that makes it easier to exhale.

When you inhale the machine will increase the pressure to EPAP + PS, and when you exhale it will decrease the pressure to EPAP. More pressure for inhalation, less for exhalation.

IPAP is the inhalation pressure, and is equal to PS + EPAP. The machine will never allow IPAP to exceed the setting for Max IPAP.

It sounds like your PS is set to 0.6. If you change it to 3.0 you'll see the results you're looking for on the graph.

[Miss Emerita]

I will add just one thing to loggerhead's excellent summary. PS can help reduce flow limitations, which typically arise from relaxation in the tissues lining the airway and lead to extra effort during inhalation.

Are you able to use the (excellent) Oscar software? If so, it would be very helpful to see a daily chart to understand better what your settings are and how they are doing in addressing your problems of sleep disordered breathing.

[WW4B]

May I jump in here to ask a question concerning max settings. I am using the same machine as the op. If using VAuto mode with the following settings: IPAP=20, EPAP=8 and PS=3.2 than... exhalation will be 8, inhalation will be 11.2 (PS + IPAP) with the machine if need be to go to 20 since this is the max setting. Is this correct thinking.

[Miss Emerita]

If you mean maximum IPAP=20, minimum EPAP=8 and PS=3.2, then the lowest IPAP will be 11.2 (with EPAP of and the maximum EPAP will be 16.8 (with IPAP of 20).

Hope I did my arithmetic right there!

[Dusk2Dawn]

Thanks for all your responses..... Ok so let me see if I have this straight.
If min EPAP = 10, Max IPAP = 15, and PS [ pressure support ] = 2 I will start off with EPAP of 10 on ramp up, with IPAP = 12. If the device registers "events" , it will auto adjust the EPAP setting, up to a maximum of 13 [ never below min EPAP setting ] , keeping the IPAP = EPAP + PS , up to a Maximum of 15 . So it could end up at EPAP = 13 and IPAP = 15 during the night......... and always with the IPAP , EPAP difference = to the PS ( in this case, 2 )

I assume only software would be bale to tell me if the device ever went to the 13 EPAP to 15 IPAP range during the night, as it could be lower than that by the time I wake up.

Do you need anything special to utilize the Oscar software ? Does it need to be installed on the aircurve, or only on the phone, and I assume it connects with bluetooth from phone to the aircurve ?

[zonker]

I assume only software would be bale to tell me if the device ever went to the 13 EPAP to 15 IPAP range during the night, as it could be lower than that by the time I wake up.

Do you need anything special to utilize the Oscar software ? Does it need to be installed on the aircurve, or only on the phone, and I assume it connects with bluetooth from phone to the aircurve ?

no, oscar tracks every minute from the time you turn on the machine until you turn it off, showing every event throughout.

unfortunately, you need to run oscar on a computer, not the phone. that's because oscar collects data on an sd card inserted into your machine.

if you aren't running a machine on win, mac or linux, this won't work for you.

[palerider]

Do you need anything special to utilize the Oscar software ? Does it need to be installed on the aircurve, or only on the phone, and I assume it connects with bluetooth from phone to the aircurve ?

You need a SD card, a computer with Oscar installed, and an SD card reader for the computer (they're cheap). the SD card goes in the aircurve, the aircurve writes data onto the card, then you put the card into the computer and Oscar reads the data and shows you graphs and numbers, you do a screenshot of that, post it here, and we help you learn what it all means.