Software for S9 Users- ResScan vs SleepyHead

[Lizistired]

OK, I think it's time we had this discussion.

History: 2 years ago, SleepyHead(SH) was developed by a PRS1 user. The Encore software didn't measure up to the ResMed software, so Resmed was the machine of choice for that reason alone. The machines were equal but the software was not.

Mark built Sleepyhead to do what he wanted it to do for his PRS1 and CMS 50D+. He did a great job with it. He shared it with the forum and continued to tweak it and adapt it to accomodate the other machines. He adapted it to various oximeters, and the Zeos.
Everyone jumped on the bandwagon.....
So that was last year.... and now we are where we are.
I was happy with ResScan, but thought it would be really cool to be able to view my O2 with my xpap data, and then my Zeo too!?!
Well, it hasn't happened that way.
SH is still great for PRS1 users, because their software still sucks compared to ResScan. IMHO.
It's also great for ResMed users with oximeters and Zeos that want to integrate their data.

SH also has cool additions like the statistics page that tracks changes in settings, and the "Records", which may work well on the PRS1. I still upload to SH to play with these features. But I must say I don't rely on the data.
What needs to be said is that SH is still really buggy in the way it handles Resmed data. The duplicate sessions are well known but apparently that reduces the calculated AHI too. I have cleaned them up twice and have given up.
I know SH reports by "Best Setting" based on data that doesn't match data stored in ResScan. I have never had 4 straight days of 0.0 AHI.
I have yet to be able to set the graphs in my preferences and find it difficult to view the graphs because of this.
I'm not trying to bash SH, but new users are being led to it when ResScan is more reliable for their data and simpler to use since there is a tutorial available .. Unless of course they are using a Mac.

What needs to be made clear to new S9 users, is that there are many bugs with the S9 data that make it inaccurate and unreliable.

[Pugsy]

What are the specific items that you find to be inaccurate and unreliable?
I know that my 95% leak numbers are sometimes off and sometimes off by a lot and then sometimes they are spot on.
The leak graph always matches up though and to be honest ...I personally could care less about a 95 % number because they are so easily skewed. Seen it too many times with both ResScan and Encore.
But when I asked someone not long ago to compare their SH 95% numbers with their ResScan numbers they reported to me that they essentially matched.

The main stuff...AHI...event count...category breakdown have always been spot on for me.
Seems like the calculation stuff is pretty buggy but the items that are the basics for evaluating therapy have always been pretty much exactly matching and only off maybe 0.1 up or down do to rounding.

I saw a ResScan report the other day where the 95% number on a VPAP Auto was higher than the IPAP max. So it can come up with some weird stuff to.

The double session thing in SH has been fixed but not released. Mark knows about the 95% bug for leak calculation.
If there are other discrepancies...lets put them out here so it can be worked on. I will be honest I haven't gone through each line by line number but if you have found others that are significantly off...please list them so we all will know and maybe they can be fixed.

Finally...I am pretty good with computers and software...pretty darn good in fact. ResScan is not easy to manage. It simply is going to be a handful for some people who are computer challenged.

SleepyHead is Beta software...clearly stated and not without bugs but for bugs to be found and worked out..people have to use the software.

[billbolton]

What needs to be made clear to new S9 users, is that there are many bugs with the S9 data that make it inaccurate and unreliable.

You left out "when its used for purposes for which it was never intended"

S9 data works fine in terms of scoring of treatment efficacy for the sleep session at hand and adjusting it as appropriate, and in conjunction with ResScan for trend related analysis that is useful for indicating if more detailed investigation through a PSG (etc) is required. Its not intended to be PSG quality data

Cheers,

Bill

[Lizistired]

Pugsy, I find ResScan quite easy to manage. It runs on my netbook when SH won't display daily views. I rarely use the netbook so that isn't an issue.

My point is not to fix SH, but to open a discussion, available to new users explaining their options.

It would be great if we were all on the same software. That makes it easier to help others, which is what you do.
But new users shouldn't feel like they have to use SH to come here and get help, and not be told thatt ResScan might provide more reliable data.

[Lizistired]

Pugsy, all the 2 programs can do is display the data that the machines record. All the extra graphs that SH displays, were recorded by the S9. ResScan decided not to display them. There were threads on this forum that explained how to edit the ResScan software to do so. I have seen the data, and tidal volume doesn't mean a thing to me. Maybe that is why ResScan decided not to display it.

[Lizistired]

The double session thing in SH has been fixed but not released. Mark knows about the 95% bug for leak calculation.
If there are other discrepancies...lets put them out here so it can be worked on. I will be honest I haven't gone through each line by line number but if you have found others that are significantly off...please list them so we all will know and maybe they can be fixed

That's not my point. I don't need to fix it. I don't really care about data anymore!!! I have been under 1.0 for over a year. Not sure why I still look at it everyday.... anal like you I guess!?
New users need to know that ResScan may be a better option for them, at least starting out. I'm glad I started with it and not SH.

[Lizistired]

What needs to be made clear to new S9 users, is that there are many bugs with the S9 data that make it inaccurate and unreliable.

You left out "when its used for purposes for which it was never intended"

S9 data works fine in terms of scoring of treatment efficacy for the sleep session at hand and adjusting it as appropriate, and in conjunction with ResScan for trend related analysis that is useful for indicating if more detailed investigation through a PSG (etc) is required. Its not intended to be PSG quality data

Cheers,

Bill

Oh, you just had to go there!!

[ems]

Finally...I am pretty good with computers and software...pretty darn good in fact. ResScan is not easy to manage. It simply is going to be a handful for some people who are computer challenged.

I'm one of those computer challenged people you are talking about. And, from the many PMs I've received, I'm happy to say that I'm not alone.

It took me months to finally want to check my data (let alone install SH), without a doctor or sleep tech interpreting it for me. I've read about the bugs and frankly, I don't care. SH results are so close to the data my doctor gets when I bring her my SD card that I'm more than satisfied. Anything more involved than SH would make me terribly anxious... I don't need that.

Now for the people who want the information that only ResScan can provide, that's great, they should use ResScan. But, I don't care about having any more info than Sleepyhead provides.

[NateS]

I am very grateful for Mark's efforts with SH, and I continue to pull my data into SH after I import it into ResScan, just out of habit, but it is irritating to have to keep turning off the duplicate import for each day, and I've never been crazy about its graphs.

I find the ResScan graphs much quicker and easier to read and understand at a glance, and it is IMHO just as easy to use as SH, the only difference being that ResScan calls it a Download and SH calls it an Import.

I use ResScan on my Mac running Windows XP Professional in emulation on Parallels 7. I find it very easy to use. But for Mac users that don't use emulation software, it is nice that they have the alternative of SleepyHead. But it would be nice if it got fixed, and even nicer if the style of the graph displays could either be more like ResScan's or at least choosable like the graphs in Excel.

That's my two cents on the subject.

Regards,

Nate

[Lizistired]

Good points Nate.

EMS, it isn't about additional information. The machine collects the data, the software displays it.

[ems]

EMS, it isn't about additional information. The machine collects the data, the software displays it.

Well, I told you I was computer challenged. Seriously, that much I know. I just think the easier the better, especially for new people trying to learn their way around the newness of it all. Personally, I found Sleepyhead easier.

[zoocrewphoto]

I find the ResScan graphs much quicker and easier to read and understand at a glance, and it is IMHO just as easy to use as SH, the only difference being that ResScan calls it a Download and SH calls it an Import.

Same here. I don't like the graphs and charts that Sleephead does. They seem more complicated to me. I love the graphs and reports produced by ResScan. It was simple to install and use.

[Xney]

I'm a very technical person (it's my profession), and I use both. I prefer SleepyHead because it's simpler and faster.

I doubt it's 100% accurate, but most of the bugs/differences aren't important. That's why I have ResScan, to double-check.

SleepyHead is free and open software, that matters to me a bit. Getting resscan is.. a little gray.

I prefer ResScan for the summary graphs - I like that style better.

I think they're so close in terms of features and how they work, it's pretty much just personal preference which you like better. I don't think you can make a strong argument as one being better.

[Jay Aitchsee]

I shouldn't say anything here, since I've never installed SH. But I have followed its progress over the last couple of years and I've often wondered why folks with ResMed machines would want to intall a buggy program to monitor their data when a perfectly good, and in my opinion, easy to use program was available. I'm not trying to take anything away from Mark. I know a lot of work and experitise went into the development of SH and, as Liz says, it seems to be a great alternative to Encore. But I don't see that ResScan needs an alternative.
It does seem that newbies are being led to SH. Something that has been pointed out several times by another board member, and again I've wondered why. Why point a ResMed user to SH? I've run several versions of ResScan on several platforms with XP thru Win 7 and never had a problem with it. So, why point a newbie, who already has enough problems, to buggy software?
I'm just sayin' (even though I shouldn't).

Jay

[deltadave]

Besides, if you want, you can "reveal" some of the "secret" parameters, as well as dress up the appearance:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=57907&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... in+resscan

Ahhh, I miss NotMuffy.