Use CPAP machine to detect Apnea

I have a CPAP machine (that my wife stopped using). Can I use it to do a home sleep apnea test. That is, can I set it up to have minimal flow and detect apnea events.

It is a Philips Respironics Remstar auto aflex System One.

Thanks

It has been done, but there is a big difference between this and a lab or even a dedicated home study.
If there is any way you can get at least a home study, I'd advise that.

easily_confused wrote:I have a CPAP machine (that my wife stopped using). Can I use it to do a home sleep apnea test. That is, can I set it up to have minimal flow and detect apnea events.

It is a Philips Respironics Remstar auto aflex System One.

Thanks

the thing to keep in mind is that even if you set it on 4cm, that's still a little treatment, and showing no events at 4cm is not conclusive proof that you don't have apnea.

what kind of machine? (look for a REF or model number on the back or bottom label.)

Not exactly.
You can set it up with a pressure range, maybe 7-10.
With SleepyHead software (free) you can monitor your therapy, self titrate, but it won't tell you your untreated AHI.
As you adjust it to minimize events it will provide you with progress reports.

It's a REMstar Auto, DOM
REF 560P
Changing topics, it seems strange to me that there is not some simple chest-band strain sensor that can record breathing rhythms overnight. Is there a market for something like that? Or, is that not enough to detect apnea?
Or, even a microphone that picks up nasal airflow. Airflow sensors, etc --- All sorts of approaches. The technology to do those things is pretty straight-forward. I'm not saying it replaces a sleep-study, but at least you can tell whether you need to do a sleep study.

easily_confused wrote:It's a REMstar Auto, DOM
REF 560P
Changing topics, it seems strange to me that there is not some simple chest-band strain sensor that can record breathing rhythms overnight. Is there a market for something like that? Or, is that not enough to detect apnea?
Or, even a microphone that picks up nasal airflow. Airflow sensors, etc --- All sorts of approaches. The technology to do those things is pretty straight-forward. I'm not saying it replaces a sleep-study, but at least you can tell whether you need to do a sleep study.

those things are what's used for a sleep study. airflow sensor, chest effort sensor, oximeter. that gets you most of the way there.

your machine is fine for setting yourself up for a trial run.

easily_confused wrote:I have a CPAP machine (that my wife stopped using). Can I use it to do a home sleep apnea test. That is, can I set it up to have minimal flow and detect apnea events.

It is a Philips Respironics Remstar auto aflex System One.

Thanks

Hi Easily Confused,

While we can do things, sometimes it isn't always wise. Not sure who you plan to test here or why you think a test is needed. The thing is a Philips Respironics Remstar auto aflex System One isn't testing equipment, it is therapy equipment that requires a doctor's prescription. Prescriptions are required for a reason.

The conservative and prudent path, imho, is to see your doctor about your sleep concerns (if you are the individual that needs the sleep study). Get a full check up and make sure there aren't other underlying causes for the symptoms. Don't play doctor by diagnosing yourself! Yes, doctors make mistakes but that is after years of practice and schooling - what are the chances of you diagnosing it right or treating underlying causes of say central apnea, like congestive heart failure?

If you are going to use the equipment on another person, you open yourself up for practicing medicine without a license. While that is pretty common on the internet, it isn't without catches and liabilities in the real world.

Of course the decision is ultimately up to you. The chances of something going wrong are probably slim to none and of course no one will come knocking on your door. But in the case of an emergency or emergency surgery, it might be a good idea if the attending physician/surgeon/anesthetist knew you had sleep apnea - something that would be missing from your records if you tested and treated without your doctor's knowledge. Nah, probably not an issue anyway.

Kind regards,
GB

It's always better to have a medical consultation.
If it is just for your curiosity, you can buy an pulse oximeter with memory to record desaturations during the night.
It's cheap and gives you a good indication. Then, you keep it at home because it's always useful to have one.
Obviously you will need to have special software on your PC to read the data.
Sleepyhead is fine for some types of pulse oximeter, you have to control this.
Good luck.

easily_confused wrote:I have a CPAP machine (that my wife stopped using). Can I use it to do a home sleep apnea test. That is, can I set it up to have minimal flow and detect apnea events.
It is a Philips Respironics Remstar auto aflex System One.
Thanks

The simple answer is yes you can.
The 560 will record and report obstructive and central events, flow limitations and hypopneas so there will be a minimal record of apneas and a guess at how severe, if any, your sleep apnea problem might be. As mentioned, the minimum pressure that can be set for this machine is 4 cmH2O and that does provide some therapeutic level of pressure so that some sleep apnea symptoms will be masked if testing this way.

In addition, as posted, it would be prudent to get a recording pulse oximeter such as the CMS50F to get a handle on blood oxygen levels as well as heart rate information. Both of these will be useful if apneas are recorded by the 560.

Finally, if you are going forward, get a copy of SleepyHead software which can import the data from the 560 as well as from the CMS50F and incorporate it all into a single report. If you are having sleep apnea events that show up while "testing" in this manner, then by all means take the results to your primary care doctor who can schedule a "real" sleep study either using home study equipment or by doing it in a sleep laboratory.

The more important question, however, is why has your wife discontinued CPAP therapy? How severe was her apnea?

It would be better, after this excursion in home testing, to see if her issues could be addressed here and her therapy resumed. Untreated sleep apnea is really quite harmful to the patient.

No matter what issues she had/has with the therapy, there are folks on this forum who have gone through the same ones and solved them so they can receive good CPAP therapy. Let them help both of you.

Some who have an auto machine and no contraindications for PAP have decided on their own to use the machine a few nights just to see if they feel better afterward. That can actually be a more important thing to find out individually than whether or not you would qualify for insurance to pay--which is mostly what AHI-measurement is all about. Response to therapy is a perfectly valid way to self-diagnose when the treatment is as simple and safe as slightly pressurized air. And some with less-than-medically-significant AHI still benefit from PAP therapy.

In other words, if you have a machine, then finding out whether PAP improves your sleep may be more important than diagnosing the nature of the condition that PAP will treat.

That said, getting medical people involved is almost always the safest route to go, if that is available to you.