bipap pressures

can anyone tell me how my home care provider sets the 2 pressures for inhale and exhale this is for my bipap machine pr system one auto advanced SV system I am just want to know how they do it because my pressure is set to 20 are the numbers broken down 10 for inhale and 10 for exhale equals 20?

Hi SpringMan946:

Welcome to the PR 960 ASV club.

Pressures on this machine are a little different than ordinary bi-level machines like the PR Auto BiPap, etc.

Here are my pressures and I will explain how they work. Your numbers will be different but will work in the same manner.

Min EPAP:_______________12.0
Min Pressure Support:______7.0
Max EPAP:_______________17.0
Max Pressure Support:_____13.0
Max Pressure:____________25.0
Flex Setting:______________1
Backup Rate:_____________Auto
Humidification Mode:______System One
Humidifier Setting:_________3

Min EPAP is the minimum exhale pressure that the machine will maintain.
Max EPAP is the maximum exhale pressure that the machine will normally allow as it tries to compensate for various apnea conditions.
Min Pressure Support and Max Pressure Support are the upper and lower ranges that the machine will use when providing inhale pressures.
Max Pressure is the maximum pressure allowed under any circumstances. This particular value is the maximum pressure that the 960 can produce.
Flex Setting is a comfort number that relates to the change between inhale and exhale.
Backup Rate controls the rate at which the machine controls breathing when you don't initiate a breath.
Humidifier Mode and Humidifier Setting control the type and amount of humidity the machine provides when the System One humidifier is attached. If you have a heated hose attached, these parameters will appear differently.

Assuming Ramp is set to OFF or the ramp time has been exceeded and the machine is in "normal" operating mode.

Your IPAP is equal to the sum of the current EPAP plus the current Pressure Support.
Your EPAP is equal to the current EPAP within the range of Min EPAP to Max EPAP.
So, in my case, I begin with an EPAP of 12.0 cmH2O and an IPAP of 19.0 cmH2O.
If I have any of the various types of apnea except a central apnea, the machine will vary the EPAP and/or the Pressure Support to attempt to correct for what is happening.
With a central apnea, the machine resets the current EPAP to Min EPAP and allows the Pressure Support to vary up to the Max Pressure.

So, If I have a central apnea that lasts for a while, my pressure instead of being 12/19 or something like that, will become 12/25 until I begin breathing on my own again.
All this time the Backup Rate is constantly being recalculated to adjust for normal changes in breathing rate during the night. In my case, my breathing rate is quite unstable so, from time to time, the duration between breaths will exceed the current computed rate and the machine will kick in and breathe for me. I have had that scenario last for over 2 hours but mostly just for a few minutes at a time.

Hope this helps.