IntelliPAP Auto 19, M Series Auto A-Flex 11

[El Pap]

The Intellipap does have a feature where you can adjust the sensitivity for detection of sleep events. I'm not sure if it changes the therapy it provides, or just changes the way it reports the therapy, and plan to look into this in case I can "adjust" the machine to provide better therapy for me. Georgio

Just to calrify this point, the IntelliPAP AutoAdjust does allow you to change the apnea/hypopnea % which will alter the way to unit detects and responds to events.

Would you mind expanding on this treatment feature a bit more? Here are a couple questions that come to mind:

1) Is that residual or pretreated apneas/hypopneas that are supposed to be entered?

2) I have mostly hypopneas. Based on adjustment of this parameter, how would the Intellipap treat me differently than someone who has mostly apneas or someone with a hypothetical 50/50 ratio of apnea/hypopnea event types?

Any other points you would like to make about this feature are most appreciated.

Responding as an owner, I believe I understand how those settings operate. At their default, a hypopnea is registered when flow drops below 50% of recent average for at least 10 seconds, and an apnea is registered when flow drops below 10% of recent average for at least 10 seconds. In the clinical setup menu, one can change both the flow percentage and duration needed for the machine to recognize each of these respiratory events.

[-SWS]

Thank you, El Pap! That makes sense... and it's much different than how I had originally envisioned that parameter.

So, Intellipap AutoAdjust owners... Does anyone have additional thoughts to share since you wrote your reviews? That was one exciting product challenge IMHO.

I would also like to encourage DeVilbiss Marketing to expand and share anything and everything in this thread---to your heart's content. We simply can't learn enough about any good new product. And the IntelliPAP AutoAdjust is no exception to that long-held custom of learning "all good things CPAP" on this message board.

Thank you in advance for all input from everyone! This is really one great thread IMO.

[AuntieNae]

wow, I was very hesitant to open this forum. I was pleasantly surprised to find things are so positive.

[feeling_better]

This is indeed DeVilbiss Marketing, Kristin Mastin - Director of Marketing to be exact.

Again, I and the engineering team will continue to monitor these and other boards to obtain as much feedback as possible. Critical feedback is always appreciated.

Hi Kristin, Thank you very much for answering our questions. Does the DeV heated humidifier plastic container has BisphenolA ? All the other manufacturers' products appear to contain BPA. If you have designed that out, you have a big competitive advantage. That would be a trigger feature for me to try this new product.

Please also see view about the need for pressure relief in bold in the next post below.

[feeling_better]

I'm one of those strange birds who must turn the Respironics Flex feature off to get more comfortable sleep. Somehow leaving the Respironics Flex feature on manages to create more aerophagia for me. But with Flex turned off, I usually have little or no aerophagia. Go figure! I think my aerophagia experience with the Flex feature is opposite the usual case.

-SWS, this is the cost of being absent for too long. I had not at first recognized you from that new avatar. What is that anyway, a stronger air compressor for the kids?

Back to your experience. This shows the wide differences in personal preference. I could not tolerate A-flex at all; the doctor, the therapist, most everybody in this board had said that was the way to go when I started. It was after I switched to C-flex that I could finally feel cpap was useful. At my low pressure, the effect of c-flex is minimal, but I still adjust the c-flex level to control my Hs since I am very sensitive to the CO2 retention level. So pressure relief methods can be useful for therapy functional tuning too. Another reason why DeV need to invent, license or steal some form of pressure relief adjustable algorithm.

[RipVW]

So pressure relief methods can be useful for therapy functional tuning too. Another reason why DeV need to invent, license or steal some form of pressure relief adjustable algorithm.

Ditto!! Hear, Hear!!

[DeVilbiss Marketing]

The Intellipap does have a feature where you can adjust the sensitivity for detection of sleep events. I'm not sure if it changes the therapy it provides, or just changes the way it reports the therapy, and plan to look into this in case I can "adjust" the machine to provide better therapy for me. Georgio

Just to calrify this point, the IntelliPAP AutoAdjust does allow you to change the apnea/hypopnea % which will alter the way to unit detects and responds to events.

Would you mind expanding on this treatment feature a bit more? Here are a couple questions that come to mind:

1) Is that residual or pretreated apneas/hypopneas that are supposed to be entered?

2) I have mostly hypopneas. Based on adjustment of this parameter, how would the Intellipap AutoAdjust treat me differently than someone who has mostly apneas or someone with a hypothetical 50/50 ratio?

Any other points you would like to make about this feature are most appreciated.

1) The IntelliPAP AutoAdjust detects and responds to apneas and/or hypopneas at present time and has the ability to treat every minute when they are sensed.

2) Apneas and hypopneas are equally rated in our algorithm, so our unit responds much as a sleep lab protocol would respond.

[DeVilbiss Marketing]

Our stated weight with humidification is 4.45 lbs. The dimensions we state are 6.5" wide x 8.4" long x 6.4" high. The overall area of the IntelliPAP should be slightly smaller than the Respironics M Series (not including the power brick)

Thank you very much for that data. I assume you meant the overall volume instead of area above? Area (footprint) looks definitely much less, but DeVelibiss is much taller than M series.

I assume there is no external pwr supply (aka brick) needed for DeV? That is the power supply is built into it? How does the battery pack operate? Is there a separate DC v input socket, or the battery pack unit up-converts to 110v ?

Based on the stated specifications in the Respironics literature - the footprint of the M Series with Heated Humidifier, but excluding the power brick is 72 sq. inches. The footprint of the IntelliPAP with heated humidifier is 52 sq, inches.

The IntelliPAP has an internal power supply, so the included 8 foot power cord does not have a power brick. It is a straight cord. We do not provide the battery pack so I will need to look into this. However, we do provide DC operation which requires an optional power cord.

[-SWS]

Thank you for that answer, DVM (a.k.a. DeVilbiss Marketing)!

And feeling_better, it's great to see you back!

The comment about the DeVilbiss AutoAdjust needing expiratory pressure relief: it's clear to me that DeVilbiss would pick up yet more market share if they employed some kind of expiratory pressure relief in their AutoAdjust. However, during this product challenge 19 participants chose to stick with the AutoAdjust while only 11 preferred to stay with their Respironics machine having A-Flex.

So that somewhat surprising 19-to-11 preference ratio was despite no pressure relief during exhale while using the AutoAdjust.

[Driver59]

Have been watching this thread since it started. I just wanted to say thank you to Kristin and Devilbiss for reading this forum and accepting feedback with the purpose of improving what I think is already a very good machine. I have been weighing the pros and cons of a couple machines with the intention of purchasing a travel / backup unit. The information presented here, plus the interaction with the Devilbiss team through Kristin has made my decision for me. A couple of things come to mind for improvements. A slot for the SD card on the front of the machine, where it would be easily accessable would be nice. That would be much easier than having to remove the smart link when I pack to travel. I am a truck driver and concerned that the smart link might not travel well by truck unless removed and packed seperately. Don't really need extra things to do at 3 am while getting ready to leave the house. I am really impressed by the firmware upgrade capability. If in the future some sort of exhale pressure relief is offered, would this be something that could be offered as an upgrade to existing machines through the firmware. Even offered as a pay to download option that would be much more acceptable than buying a new machine. Sorry not a techie so don't know the feasability of this, but thought I would ask. I think Devilbiss is on to something here, please continue what you have started on this forum. It means alot to those of us who rely on cpap to maintain our health and to be able to get up in the morning and function well during the day.
Don

[RipVW]

If in the future some sort of exhale pressure relief is offered, would this be something that could be offered as an upgrade to existing machines through the firmware. Even offered as a pay to download option that would be much more acceptable than buying a new machine. Sorry not a techie so don't know the feasability of this, but thought I would ask. I think Devilbiss is on to something here, please continue what you have started on this forum. It means alot to those of us who rely on cpap to maintain our health and to be able to get up in the morning and function well during the day.
Don

OH, that would be SO great! Seems likely that since the IntelliPAP already has the capability to auto adjust that this could be done via a firmware upgrade, but, I admit that I don't really know if that is possible.

[SharkBait]

If in the future some sort of exhale pressure relief is offered, would this be something that could be offered as an upgrade to existing machines through the firmware. Even offered as a pay to download option that would be much more acceptable than buying a new machine. Sorry not a techie so don't know the feasability of this, but thought I would ask. I think Devilbiss is on to something here, please continue what you have started on this forum. It means alot to those of us who rely on cpap to maintain our health and to be able to get up in the morning and function well during the day.
Don

OH, that would be SO great! Seems likely that since the IntelliPAP already has the capability to auto adjust that this could be done via a firmware upgrade, but, I admit that I don't really know if that is possible.

Or better yet, offer a SDK for your units...

[feeling_better]

Based on the stated specifications in the Respironics literature - the footprint of the M Series with Heated Humidifier, but excluding the power brick is 72 sq. inches. The footprint of the IntelliPAP with heated humidifier is 52 sq, inches.

The IntelliPAP has an internal power supply, so the included 8 foot power cord does not have a power brick. It is a straight cord. We do not provide the battery pack so I will need to look into this. However, we do provide DC operation which requires an optional power cord.

DeV Mktg, Thank you! Full disclosure: I have no affiliation to either company. The height of my M1 w/ HH is about 3.5". So volume of IPaP ~338 cu inch vs M1 ~252 (not including the brick); Ipap is 34% larger. It is the volume and weight that are important for travel; but night-stand or floor area is not expensive enough to make the foot print a big factor

What voltage is the DC operation input? How much current for without and with the HH? If the voltage is standard, an external battery pack is not difficult (whether DeV or not).

What is your optional power cord above for? For operation from a car cigarette lighter type source?

[DeVilbiss Marketing]

What voltage is the DC operation input? How much current for without and with the HH? If the voltage is standard, an external battery pack is not difficult (whether DeV or not).

What is your optional power cord above for? For operation from a car cigarette lighter type source?

The DC current is 5 Amps max, typically 2.5A. 12 Volts

The heater for the IntelliPAP’s humidification system will not operate directly from a 12V DC power source. If you need humidification, passover humidification is still available. Alternately, instead of connecting12V DC power directly to the IntelliPAP, you can pass the DC power through an inverter that will deliver AC power to the system. This will allow the heater to function. The power rating of the inverter must be at least 200 watts @ 110V~ / 400 watts @ 220V~.

Yes, the DC power cord (item # DV51D-619) is for use with a cigarette lighter. Handy for use in motor homes and other vehicles.

[Georgio]

I have been advised by DelilBiss that when you adjust the Apnea and Hypopnea percentages and duration settings on the Intellipap, that the therapy provided for those events is changed accordingly (not just the reporting). I am consulting with Devilbiss and plan to look into adjusting the percent of flow rate reduction and duration of apneas and hypopneas, and give the machine another attempt.

"Dave,

Thanks very much for your response and interest in helping with my therapy. I was pleased to learn that the Intellipap does in fact have the capability to adjust it's therapy detection settings. While that seems logical, it's not really clear that the advanced submenu won't only change reporting. I checked my Intellipap and the four available settings in the Advanced Submenu were all at the default settings. Just now I changed them to 5, 6, 30, & 6, which I assume will make the machine more sensitive to my events. You can see some of both my M-Series and Intellipap nightly data charts in the discussion thread on cpap.com, to help you judge my setting assumptions.

Please let me know what you think about my adjustments.

Also, I request your permission to copy our discussion to the cpap.com thread, as the folks there are hungry for information on your product to determine if it may provide superior therapy and be a future purchase.

Georgio"