So - who makes the best CPAP machine?

Ed,
I don't know if it makes sense to drop the pressure symetrically. I mean, I literaly don't know. I'd sparate the IPAP and EPAP changes.

Mindy,
I think that is worthy of a thread of its own - "Sandman IFL" or the like - are you sure about that IFL (I mean, is that how its defined in the manual?) That sounds very different from the PB 420E

O.

ozij wrote:Ed,
I don't know if it makes sense to drop the pressure symetrically. I mean, I literaly don't know. I'd sparate the IPAP and EPAP changes.

Mindy,
I think that is worthy of a thread of its own - "Sandman IFL" or the like - are you sure about that IFL (I mean, is that how its defined in the manual?) That sounds very different from the PB 420E

O.

Ozij,

I'll check the manual to make sure. It's buried somewhere at the moment because my home is in the middle of being painted. Once I unearth it, I'll start a new thread.

Thanks!
Mindy

Found a manual here:
http://solvitcenter.puritanbennett.com/ ... %20(B).pdf
The manual mentions IFL in the same context as Max. P. on apnea, but of IFL itself it says: This command raises the pressure if the flow is restricted.

O.

Just to interject what may be a useless point on autobilevels:

It seems to me that the ResMed autobilevels and the Respironics autobilevels are VERY different. In the ResMed, the distance between IPAP and EPAP is constant as the two pressures move around locked together, whereas the Respironics machine can be set up to allow the distance between IPAP and EPAP to vary throughout the night as the two pressures move around somewhat independently.

Maybe that is completely useless information, since I have no idea what effect that has on anyone's treatment in practice. But it makes me think that in a perfect world, it would sure be nice if each person getting an autobilevel could try out both machines for a month or two to see which one worked best in each case.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

jnk wrote:Just to interject what may be a useless point on autobilevels:

It seems to me that the ResMed autobilevels and the Respironics autobilevels are VERY different. In the ResMed, the distance between IPAP and EPAP is constant as the two pressures move around locked together, whereas the Respironics machine can be set up to allow the distance between IPAP and EPAP to vary throughout the night as the two pressures move around somewhat independently.

Maybe that is completely useless information, since I have no idea what effect that has on anyone's treatment in practice. But it makes me think that in a perfect world, it would sure be nice if each person getting an autobilevel could try out both machines for a month or two to see which one worked best in each case.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Hi Jnk,
I'll interject another small point. In my ResMed machine, the two pressures can be set independently. What you said is probably true of other ResMed machines.

Ed

Yes, Ed, but once you set them, they are set.
On a Respinronics, the pressure, and the difference between IPAP and EPAP can vary during the night, based on the Respironics' analysis of your needs.

jnk wrote:It seems to me that the ResMed autobilevels and the Respironics autobilevels are VERY different. In the ResMed, the distance between IPAP and EPAP is constant as the two pressures move around locked together, whereas the Respironics machine can be set up to allow the distance between IPAP and EPAP to vary throughout the night as the two pressures move around somewhat independently.

FoxNewsFan wrote: Hi Jnk,
I'll interject another small point. In my ResMed machine, the two pressures can be set independently. What you said is probably true of other ResMed machines.

Ed

Thanks, Ed.

As ozij, explained, in an autobilevel machine, the pressures move up or down during the night. So I was trying to refer to how the pressures move automatically moreso than how they are set.

In an autobilevel, you give the two pressures a range to move around in as the machine hunts for the best pressures. As a ResMed autobilevel hunts for the right pressures, it will never let the IPAP and EPAP move closer to each other or further away from each other. The two pressures are joined a fixed distance apart so that they both rise or fall together. If IPAP rises to address flow limitation, the EPAP is gonna go up the same amount IPAP does as IPAP addresses the events. In a Respironics autobilevel machine, however, the IPAP may move up without the EPAP moving up with it, which would, in that instance, result in there being a greater distance between IPAP and EPAP, depending on the range set by the clinician, or user. In a ResMed autobilevel, you set the "pressure support" (the distance between IPAP and EPAP) and that distance between never changes until you reset it. In a Respironics, you set a range for the distance between the two so that the two pressures can change independently of each other.

I still may not be expressing that very well.

But, anyway, yes, ResMed bilevels do allow for the two pressures to be set independently. Glad you pointed that out, Ed.

jeff

Thanks Jeff,
Great explanation.

I like your saying, "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."-Samuel Johnson.

Mine is by Ben Franklin. "If you cut your own wood, it warms you twice."

After I research it a little more, I'm going to make a new post asking what I should so with my EPAP as I slowly move my IPAP down.

mperkel, I apologize for hijacking your post.

Ed