Resmed AirCurve Vauto - ventilator or not

[dragonboyc]

Hi,

Would anyone be able to tell me whether the Resmed AirCurve Vauto is a ventilator or not? I have been told:

1) People who do not have central apnea should not be on a ventilator - does not need to be and it has negative effects on you long term
2) The Vauto clinical menu has trigger and cycle settings which is only on Philips ventilators - that proves that it is a ventilator
3) The resmed lumis is definitely a ventilator but you can switch ventilation off - resmed do not have bipaps without ventilation so if you want the equiv of the Philips bipap auto in resmed (without ventilation) then you need to get the lumis and turn the ventilation off

I have looked through many websites and have not found any answers

[Pugsy]

Ventilators have a back up rate available to force breathing when someone isn't breathing on their own

The presence of trigger and cycle settings doesn't mean that the machine will have the ability to force a breath.
All it means is that the breathing cycle can be customized a bit to match a person's own respiration pattern WHEN THEY BREATHE ON THEIR OWN.

The AirCurve 10 VAuto is NOT in the ventilator category...It can't force a breath...it can't breathe for you when a person has central apneas and there is no effort to breathe.

In addition to the Lumis ResMed does make other models that qualify as non invasive ventilators (they have back up rates available).....the AirCurve 10 ASV, ST and ST-A.

Back up rate capabilities are what is needed to change a regular bilevel machine to a ventilator or non invasive ventilator category. That is the critical factor.

[palerider]

Would anyone be able to tell me whether the Resmed AirCurve Vauto is a ventilator or not? I have been told:

1) People who do not have central apnea should not be on a ventilator - does not need to be and it has negative effects on you long term

There's a *technical* term for what you've been told, it's "Bullshit". Whoever was feeding you that line of bull doesn't know what they're talking about.

2) The Vauto clinical menu has trigger and cycle settings which is only on Philips ventilators - that proves that it is a ventilator

See above for the classification of that gem. The fact that the VAuto (and the S, and the ST) has Trigger and Cycle doesn't mean it's a ventilator (since it won't breathe for you, which is a necessary feature of a NIV (Non-Invasive Ventilator), it means that they're *smarter* and more configurable than other brands of consumer grade bilevel machines.

3) The resmed lumis is definitely a ventilator but you can switch ventilation off - resmed do not have bipaps without ventilation so if you want the equiv of the Philips bipap auto in resmed (without ventilation) then you need to get the lumis and turn the ventilation off

Who is the idiot that's feeding you this bull?
There are a number of Lumis models, the Lumis TX is a S9 machine that does *everything*, it has every mode available in all 13 of the S9 models. There are other Lumis machines that are (also) typically only found in hospitals.

Again, as Pugsy pointed out, the characteristic of a NIV (vs the ones that attach to a tube down your throat) is that they will breathe for you if you don't try to breathe on your own. Resmed's home NIVs are the ST, ASV and ST-A machines, which also cost something like double what a VAuto costs.

The only thing that's TRUE about the bullshit you've been fed is "resmed do not have bipaps" since only philips makes "BiPAP™" machines, in the same way that only Chevrolet makes a Camaro, and only Ford makes a Mustang. "BiPAP" is a trademark of Philips Respironics, which is why that term is nowhere on any Resmed machine, nor any Resmed webpage. Resmed makes VPAPs and (now) AirCurve machines, which are their trademarks for bilevel machines.

Resmed doesn't make anything that's the "equivalent" of a Philips Bipap auto, the VAuto is a superior machine in just about every way, except it's not as cheap. It holds more water, it's quieter, it takes up less space on the nightstand, it provides better data, etc etc etc, and most importantly, it has a superior treatment algorithm that results in better sleep for almost everyone that's tried both machines.

So, in short, whatever you do, don't listen to that ignorant fool anymore.

[dragonboyc]

Thank you for that - this really clears things for me.

Just one more question - I saw that there are several modes you can put the Vauto in - you can actually run the Vauto in S or CPAP mode? in S mode there is a backup rate setting (which you can set to off). What does that do (would anyone actually use that?)?

[Pugsy]

I am currently using the ResMed AirCurve 10 VAuto.
I am using auto bilevel mode but I just now went to my machine and changed it to S mode because I didn't think I had ever seen a backup rate option.....and I was correct....it's not there on my machine.

If you notice the disclaimer...
Note....not all parameters are available in all regions,

My guess that this feature is only available in certain areas of the world.
I am in the US and this is my second ResMed bilevel machine. Previous model was the S9 auto bilevel and it didn't have a backup rate in S mode either.

As to when or why would this be ever used question....I don't know and it came as a big surprise that the manual shows that parameter. It apparently is only available at 10 bpm which is probably an okay minimum breaths setting.

[Pugsy]

Your IP points to an Asian provider.
Perhaps machines in Asia have different functions but your documentation is the first where I have see S mode offer BPM parameter. Plus apparently it offers only 10 BPM with no other parameters which is unusual. All I have seen have been either a range as shown from the clinical manual that I have which includes the ST model and only the ST model here has the BPM parameter. Now the ASV model has a BPM parameter but it is in the form of an auto adjusting BPM.

BTW using a machine that offers a back up rate when a person doesn't necessarily have a problem with central apneas won't hurt a person.

VAutoparameterd.PNG

[palerider]

Thank you for that - this really clears things for me.

Just one more question - I saw that there are several modes you can put the Vauto in - you can actually run the Vauto in S or CPAP mode? in S mode there is a backup rate setting (which you can set to off). What does that do (would anyone actually use that?)?

Yes, the VAuto can operate in VAuto mode, or S, or CPAP.

Here, S mode does not allow a "Resp Rate" setting, for that you need the ST machine, which allows S, T, ST, and CPAP mode.

The ST machine allows you to set a Resp Rate from 5 to 50 breaths per minute.

The fixed backup rate where you got that manual from is not very useful, but maybe it's a 'ST lite" or something.

[mols001]

The Resmed Aircurve VAUTO is not considered a ventilator.

Resmed does make the ASTRAL unit, which is considered a Ventilator.
The Astral unit does have a internal battery as well.

The S10 VPAP ST-A is considered a non-invasive ventilator, due to it having the ability
to add a backup rate.

Lastly, Resmed also makes the Stellar, which can be used for non-invasive or invasive ventilator, however, it is not considered a device for "life-support"

Hi,

Would anyone be able to tell me whether the Resmed AirCurve Vauto is a ventilator or not? I have been told:

1) People who do not have central apnea should not be on a ventilator - does not need to be and it has negative effects on you long term
2) The Vauto clinical menu has trigger and cycle settings which is only on Philips ventilators - that proves that it is a ventilator
3) The resmed lumis is definitely a ventilator but you can switch ventilation off - resmed do not have bipaps without ventilation so if you want the equiv of the Philips bipap auto in resmed (without ventilation) then you need to get the lumis and turn the ventilation off

I have looked through many websites and have not found any answers

[palerider]

The S10 VPAP ST-A is considered a non-invasive ventilator,

You left out the ST and ASV machines.