Hybrid Mask Reveiw - First Blush (Long)

Well Tom, just which posts are you reffering to?

CPAPUSA has a 5 star rating for the Hybrid as well.
It gives the Swift a 2 star rating (averaging many customers)
NasalAire and Comfortcurve have a 4 star rating...

I re-titrated a patient on Monday. He was using Swift but was breathing through his mouth. He wanted the Hybrid the moment I showed it to him. He did well and his comment at the end was that the Hybrid nasal pillows felt much softer than the Swift.

Anybody else think the same? I'm planning to try out the Hybrid, Swift, Breeze and Aura myself and see if I can notice the difference.

I have tried the Swift and the Comfortlite 2, both nasal pillows hurt my nares. Doesn't matter the size of the pillows, they drive me nuts. SO, has ANYONE tried the Hybrid and the pillows hurt your nose? Or is this thing the magic it appears?

mrammell wrote:I have tried the Swift and the Comfortlite 2, both nasal pillows hurt my nares. Doesn't matter the size of the pillows, they drive me nuts. SO, has ANYONE tried the Hybrid and the pillows hurt your nose? Or is this thing the magic it appears?

If you go back to the start of the thread and read the 1st post, Mike Moran says in his review that the pillows were soft and caused no irritation of the nares. If you choose the right stiffness of the silicone of the pillows during product design, the pillows will turn out to be comfortable. It seems like the Hybrid design engineer(s) got this right. I can give them credit for good design but this is no "magic" by any means.

Since the pillows are supposedly soft, that can explain why they inflate at higher pressures and give a better seal as Mike Moran stated.

Received mine last week. Tonight will be the first night using it. I currently use the Breeze & either rip it off or think about the intrusion of the Nasal pillows. Not sure why I rip it off but, it's usually 2 hours which is close to going through my first REM cycle.
Have played around with the Hybrid for a couple of days & hope it's the answer. A couple of impressions both plusses & minuses.

The plusses:
1. Very light weight. Especially when compared to the Mirage Activa.
2. Seems to seal well. I use the large cushion & use the medium pillows. Could probably use the large ones also.
3. Holds chin in place. Not as well as the Deluxe chinstrap but I don't get the claustrophobic feeling that I get with the chinstrap.

The minuses:
1. If it's lightweight it has to be plastic. To lock in the headgear are 4 plastic tabs. I hope they don't break. If ANY of them do you can kiss this mask goodbye. I'm not an engineer but no amount of crazyglue will reattach them-in my view.
2. The exhaust doesn't allow you to swing the hose if you sleep on your side. Felt from the hose point of view it creates awkward situations. I think the Breeze is ideal for side-sleeping.
3. The other concern I have is in the front that attaches to the hose, it's not a swivel. It swings circular but I'm worried if you press into the bed it can crack or break.

Hope this works.


Bob

mrammell wrote:I have tried the Swift and the Comfortlite 2, both nasal pillows hurt my nares. Doesn't matter the size of the pillows, they drive me nuts. SO, has ANYONE tried the Hybrid and the pillows hurt your nose? Or is this thing the magic it appears?

I just did a quick nasal pillows comparison between the Hybrid, Aura and Swift by wearing each interface. The Hybrid's pillows do seem much softer. The Swift pillows seem the hardest with Aura somewhere in the middle.

Thank you Maskjkie, thats what I was looking for, I appreciate it.

I have a deviated septum. I saw on the Hybrid video that you can cut the thin strip connecting the pillows and then different size pillows can be used for each nare.

If someone has triied this, your comments will be appreciated...........

My hybrid came in yesterday and I got to use it last night.

I used it most of the night. I wish that I could say my experience was as positive as all of the ones I've seen so far but it wasn't. I'm definitely not ready to give up on it yet, but it did have several issues that I'm trying to figure out.

First the good points.

1. As I'm sure everyone is aware, it leaves the line of sight open with not forehead or nose supports. Makes watching TV or reading a book a much more enjoyable experience.

2. No sore nares. I have only used a full face mask before, so have no comparison against other nasal pillow interfaces.

3. Easy assembly / disassembly for cleaning and change cushions.

4. Nice packaging and instructions. Like some other masks, such as the UM FF, it comes with a video CD that shows fitting and cleaning instructions. These were clear and concise. Unlike other masks I have received, it came in a zippered canvas carry case with room for all the accessories and instructions. This was a nice touch although the case is a bit large. It would easily hold two masks.

Now for the problems:

1. While I had no problems with sore nares, it was uncomfortable on my upper lip where the cushion rested.

2. I had a hard time choosing the right cushion. While I don't think I have a particularly long chin, the cushions seemed to be too short. When my chin was resting in the chin support, the medium cushion was just barely on my upper lip. While the large cushion seemed better in this regard, it was too wide to provide a proper seal on the sides.

3. I had leaks. I think there were some around the chin and some around the top of the mask shell/cushion seal or where the pillows enter the cushion. I couldn't tell exactly. There was a particularly annoying intermittent "whistling" leak on the left side where the cushion meets the shell. This "whistling" occurred when I first put the mask on which was fixed by reseating the cushion into the shell. But it also reoccurred if the mask was against the pillow. According to Encore Pro, I spent 63 minutes in large leak last night.

4. As others have posted, this mask has a very generous vent flow rate. At 15 cm the flow rate is 60 liters / minute. This is a fair amount of air blowing out of the mask which could bother your bed partner. It also means that any leak could put you into "large leak" territory.

5. It seemed to put a fair amount of tension on my lower jaw, pulling it back. Maybe I had the straps adjusted wrong.


Hopefully I can resolve the leak issues and get a better fit. I really want this mask to work. I'll keep everyone posted as things progress.

In regards to the pillows. I have now had this for almost 2 weeks and so far no sore nares. This is a first for me, usually I can't last 4 days without problems. The tighter straps to combat leaks does put pressure on my upper lip, but this is more livable for me than flaming red nares. Managing the hose from the front is something I am still getting used to. The worst problem has been when the swivel gets in front of the exhaust ports. The air noise is quite noticable and has woken me up a few times.

Still the best mask for me so far.

Hope the mask works out for you sleepy-in -Al.
All full face masks (is the Hybrid a FF? ) take a bit of adjusting. Most take more than a bit, and all night long! I have to readjust my Resmed mask at least 3 times a night, straps and all.
Doesn't sound like this mask (for most ?) requires anything close to that from all the reports.
My big question is : Do the pillows leak ? Does any air blow up into the eyes? If not, I have to give this a try. The Swift pillows leaked so badly on me that the mask was unwearable. That is my fear, but my pressure is way too high for a Swift or a Breeze. It just may be too high for pillows. I'll have to see.

I received my Hybrid yesterday, too. I spent about an hour during the day getting to know the mask - trying out sizes of cushion, pillows, etc, as well as the tightness of the straps.

But, when I went to bed, I spent another 20 minutes trying to fix leaks. Finally, I gave up and returned to my Activa for the rest of the night.

I am sure it is simply a matter of finding the right mix of cushion size, pillow size and strap tightness, and I will eagerly experiment with this more today. Overall the mask feels good - I am hoping a little more experience with the mask will help.

Sleepy-in-AL wrote: 2. I had a hard time choosing the right cushion. While I don't think I have a particularly long chin, the cushions seemed to be too short. When my chin was resting in the chin support, the medium cushion was just barely on my upper lip. While the large cushion seemed better in this regard, it was too wide to provide a proper seal on the sides.

3. I had leaks. I think there were some around the chin and some around the top of the mask shell/cushion seal or where the pillows enter the cushion. I couldn't tell exactly. There was a particularly annoying intermittent "whistling" leak on the left side where the cushion meets the shell. This "whistling" occurred when I first put the mask on which was fixed by reseating the cushion into the shell. But it also reoccurred if the mask was against the pillow. According to Encore Pro, I spent 63 minutes in large leak last night.

4. As others have posted, this mask has a very generous vent flow rate. At 15 cm the flow rate is 60 liters / minute. This is a fair amount of air blowing out of the mask which could bother your bed partner. It also means that any leak could put you into "large leak" territory.

I have a few tips based on your issues:

1. I suggest using the large cushion. If you tighten the lower and upper sets of straps adequately, the large cushion should provide a good seal.

2. It appears that ther cushion was not competely inserted into the groove and same for the nasal pillows. That will "whistle".

3. The generous vent flow rate will provide better CO2 washout, so you won't rebreathe it. So, it is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.

My overall comment is that it takes 1-2 days of wearing a mask to get everything optimized and get a good fit. So, patience is key during the critical first few days.....

mikemoran wrote:In regards to the pillows. I have now had this for almost 2 weeks....

Mike,
Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear that its working out for you. I hope I get my problems resolved. I'm used to the hose in front since I've been using the UM FF.

Issac wrote:Hope the mask works out for you sleepy-in -Al....
My big question is : Do the pillows leak ? Does any air blow up into the eyes? If not, I have to give this a try. ..., but my pressure is way too high for a Swift or a Breeze. It just may be too high for pillows.

Thanks Isaac. I'm definately going to keep trying.
The pillows didn't leak, at least not at the nares. I think I was getting some leak around the top of the mask at times but I can't be sure if it was around the cushion edge or where the pillows seat in the cushion. I'm not sure what your pressure is, but I'm at BiPAP Auto EPAP 11.5 Max IPAP 17.5. I believe my 90% pressure for the night was 15.

maskjkie wrote:I have a few tips based on your issues:

1. I suggest using the large cushion. If you tighten the lower and upper sets of straps adequately, the large cushion should provide a good seal.

2. It appears that ther cushion was not competely inserted into the groove and same for the nasal pillows. That will "whistle".

3. The generous vent flow rate will provide better CO2 washout, so you won't rebreathe it. So, it is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.

My overall comment is that it takes 1-2 days of wearing a mask to get everything optimized and get a good fit. So, patience is key during the critical first few days.....

Thanks.
1. I may try the large cushion again but I think it was too wide even strapping it down tight.
2. That was my first thought too. I wasn't getting whistle around the pillows, just the left side although I think I may have been getting leaks around the pillows. I pushed the side in pretty hard while the whistling was going on, but tonight I'll try to make absolutely sure that everything is WELL seated.
3. I don't disagree with that. However, as others have posted, if you get anything in front of the exhuast vents its pretty noisy.