DeVilbiss Intellipap questions

[DeVilbiss Marketing]

Yes, you can upgrade the IntelliPAP AutoAdjust firmware to include our just released SmartFlex with Flow Rounding feature. You cannot upgrade the IntelliPAP Standard to include SmartFlex. You will require an IntelliPAP to PC USB Cable available on CPAP.com.

[rested gal]

DeVilbiss Marketing, you might want to black out the address and phone number of the person when you post screenshots of a report. Unless that's your own address/phone and you don't mind it appearing out in the open.

Thanks for being willing to answer questions on this forum.

[bbmiller]

DeVilbiss IntelliPAP AutoAdjust with SMARTFLEX (CFLEX/AFLEX)

From the name of that new machine one would assume it has both CFLEX and AFLEX exhalation relief, but does it have different level settings on this exhalation really?

[Emilia]

Smartflex is available in both auto and cpap modes. The C/A Flex you refer to is found on another brand machine... A is for Auto mode and C is for cpap mode. The other major brand calls this EPR. Same thing for the most part although SmartFlex does have a little something extra in its algorithm called Rounding...this makes the flex change very smooth. Smartflex is adjustable in settings 1, 2, & 3.

I have been using this machine now for 11 nights. It is great! Extremely quiet and very easy to set up and use.

[mgrunk]

I have been extremely happy w/ the smart flex feature. I upgraded the firmware w/ no problems. It's really relieved a terrible issue I had w/ breathing against the constant pressure. It has 3 levels of smart flex and then there are two other options you can adjust to make the snart flex smoother.

[DeVilbiss Marketing]

As other have mentioned, yes SmartFlex is indeed a C-Flex/EPR feature. Much like other technologies, SmartFlex offers 1, 2, or 3 cm H2O pressure reductions upon exhalation. In addition, you can adjust the inspiratory pressure transitions and expiratory pressure transitions - there are 6 setting for each.

[Hawthorne]

Exhalation Relief - Intellipap has SmartFlex (3 levels) also inhalation & exhalation
transition settings (6 settings)
Resmed has EPR (3 levels)
Philips Respironics has C-Flex/A-Flex ( 3 levels for each - so 6 in total)

These seem to be the types of exhalation relief on these 3 brands of machines. I have a notion that Sensawake on the Fisher & Paykel machines, may also be somewhat of an exhalation relief but something more (or maybe) different. I certainly could be corrected about the Fisher & Paykel but wonder if it is that type of thing.

What a lot of comfort options on these machines!

[bbmiller]

Exhalation Relief - Intellipap has SmartFlex (3 levels) also inhalation & exhalation
transition settings (6 settings)
Resmed has EPR (3 levels)
Philips Respironics has C-Flex/A-Flex ( 3 levels for each - so 6 in total)

These seem to be the types of exhalation relief on these 3 brands of machines. I have a notion that Sensawake on the Fisher & Paykel machines, may also be somewhat of an exhalation relief but something more (or maybe) different. I certainly could be corrected about the Fisher & Paykel but wonder if it is that type of thing.

What a lot of comfort options on these machines!

"What a lot of comfort options on these machines!" Is it only for comfort or does it affect effectiveness of therapy?

[Julie]

Only in the sense that if you're comfortable, you're more likely to continue on with the therapy (cpap) ! But really, your system should also appreciate the lack of stress, the ease of natural breathing, etc. But you will still be getting all the prescribed 'therapy' without it if you turn it off.

[sleepless wife]

My only remaining mystery was why I had one experience overnight where pressure woke me up at 20! Power-cycling the unit returned it back to normal, and the next day I set the range to 14 and the next night I had no additional events. In the three nights prior, my pressure never went above 11 .

The event was the weirdest thing...I was dreaming I was a cartoon character who's head was about to explode from the inside out...Glad I woke up ... Will continue experimenting with my range, likely 1 week at a time.

That happens occasionally, if the Intellipap is not set correctly, just above and just below your titration. If the lower limit is too low, the machine can occasionally "run away," and hit maximum. It has never happened to me, but I know others who have had that experience. In addition, it is quite sensitive to "upper ranges--" probably more so than some autopaps. So, finding a "good range for you" is necessary for it to work at maximum efficiency. I have mine at 8.5-14, and it works perfectly--range is not too far apart to prevent it from minimizing apneas and hypops, but high at bottom and low at top enough to prevent runaway. That seems to suit its algorithm best, and I am extremely happy with it working like that.

Can anyone tell me more about this running away problem and how to set the machine to avoid it. We just got it, after fighting our insurance company for months. My husband initially loved it - life changing, it even improved his golf game! But now it is running away like you describe above and he can't tolerate it. The provider says he's is barred by federal law from telling us how to reset it. And he's an hour and a half drive away, not something we can drop work to do every few weeks.

[sleepless wife]

And to be clear, it seemed to be working fine for the first two weeks. But now it blows like a hurricane. The delay button doesn't seem to be working anymore and not only can he not tolerate it, I'd rather sleep to hearing him snore than to the hurricane/darth vader noise. And I know the snoring is bad for his health, so we need to sort this out.

[Pugsy]

The provider says he's is barred by federal law from telling us how to reset it. And he's an hour and a half drive away, not something we can drop work to do every few weeks.

Go to this link...you can find out how to get the provider manual for yourself and then go into the clinical settings to see what they are.
But if the delay is not working properly and with the blowing excessively there may be something wrong with the machine so it may need to go back to the supplier.

http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p ... tup-manual

[tetragon]

I recently picked up an Intellipap, and I also had the pressure run away on me. It looks like this machine is very sensitive to hypopneas with the default settings. It has even given me my highest AHI ever of 19.5. SleepyHead's display of the data for my nights is not entirely accurate when compared against my settings, observations, and the SmartCode reports, so I'm seeing if I can convince DeVilbiss' software to run in CrossOver.

The installer worked. My initial attempts at running the programs were foiled by not having Mono for Windows installed and my computer thinking that the provided USB serial adapter is a Livescribe smart pen.

I expect that what I'll see if I get Remote Control to work is that the AutoAdjust is flagging the events that my PRS1 machines have all pondered and pressure pulsed on without flagging. And that to help rein in the pressure (or simply keep the reported values reasonable) I need to tweak the hypopnea percentage threshold.

But I did notice that auto-on has a hair trigger. My unworn mask bouncing slightly on my bed when I was straightening my cosied hose was enough to start the flow. It's actually sensitive enough to pick up on my breathing and successfully start. I gave up on the PRS1's auto-on because it wouldn't on itself quickly enough.

[Hawthorne]

I'm not understanding what it happening with this runaway pressure on the Intellipap. I have used it for a few years now and have not had that problem. I don't know why I haven't except that it may be isolated to a particular "batch" of machines.

My pressure is set at 11 cm to 14 cm. My Smartcode, on the computer seems to be rounded off but Sleepyhead gives me around the same AHI but a little more precise. My AHI on the Intellipap is comparable to what I was getting with the PR System One at the same pressure range. I find the rounding settings are the key to getting it set to my breathing pattern. I felt rushed to inhale with my PR System One - not so with the Intellipap.

[tetragon]

The displayed AHIs between my PRS1 machines and my Intellipap for the same pressure (straight 9.5) are not comparable. PRS1: 0.5 - 2.0, in-lab diagnostic sleep study done with my PRS1: 0.2, Intellipap 6.0 - 19.5. When I used them on auto, my PRS1 never had a sustained pressure higher than 12.0, and even that was brief. Half the time I used the Intellipap on auto, part of the way through the night it would decide that it had seen a few events that were too close together, and start raising the pressure. The pressure increase did not stop the "hypopneas" it was seeing, so it keeps increasing the pressure further, until it hit the cap I had set of 15.0 (later 12.0).

And this morning, the act of removing my mask from the hose resulted in the machine turning itself on again. Thanks, auto-on-hair-trigger.