Keeping Track of Fractional Pressures with MyEncore

SleepAgain · Post by **SleepAgain** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:44 am

Hello Everyone

I use "MyEncore" (version 1.587) every morning to analyze results from the previous night. I love this program and I am extremely grateful to Derek Rowel for developing and sharing it with us. Derek you are the man !!!

My "Remstar Auto" machine allows for 0.5 increments in the treatment pressure, but it seems that "MyEncore" rounds pressures to the nearest integer value. For example, a treatment pressure of 8.5 is recorded as a 9 in "MyEncore".

Is "MyEncore" capable of tracking and reporting fractional pressures?

If so, is there a particular setting in the program that needs to be changed to accomplis this?

If not, would it be too hard to add this capability to a future version of the program? ==> Derek, is this something that you can do for us?

Best Regards

SleepAgain

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:42 am

Why is it important? The machines are only + or minus 1.0 cm/H2O.

JCraig · Post by **JCraig** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:49 am

The Auto-M lets you set pressures in 0.5 increments. I can set at 10.0 or 10.5, for instance.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:28 am

This was discussed sometime in the past. MyEncore takes the data from the Encore Pro database, so if there's some rounding, I'm pretty sure that it's Encore Pro that's probably doing it.

Den

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:43 am

oldgearhead wrote:Why is it important? The machines are only + or minus 1.0 cm/H2O.

As you put it, it's not set in Rock, this game is one of variables, It's not Rocket Science, no two people or machines are the same, there fore we have to address things in a general view, and make it fit out needs. one plus one equals two in math, but all we need to need when we can't measure one exactly, is it almost measures two, that's good enough.
Trends are what we need to see. Jim

SleepAgain · Post by **SleepAgain** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:24 am

Hello All

Thanks for your answers so far. Here are my follow-up comments.

Some of the EncorePro reports contain data at intermediate pressures so I think that the rounding to integers is occuring inside MyEncore.

I am able to set pressure in 0.5 increments when running my Remstar CFlex Auto machine in it's CPAP mode. I sometimes use Excel to track the Apnea/Hipoapnea Index (AHI) as a function of pressure I can see significant (and repeatable) AHI changes over 0.5 pressure increments. It is a pain to tranfer data into Excel so I would love to use MyEncore instead.

Although the error on these machines may be in the order of +/- 1 cm H20, that error is centered around the chosen pressure so there is still significance to tracking results in 0.5 increments.

Somebody mentioned about a previous thread on this subject, I would appreciate a link to it (I searched for it without any luck).

grampy · Post by **grampy** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:39 am

Although the error on these machines may be in the order of +/- 1 cm H20, that error is centered around the chosen pressure so there is still significance to tracking results in 0.5 increments

I hope you find the answer to your question but your above statement is not accurate since the spread of the data is larger than the step increment. The .5 increment is buried in the spread.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:47 am

OK. Here's your answer.
Read Derek's first post in this thread.....he explains that Encore Pro does the rounding.

viewtopic.php?t=1945

Derek wrote:.....(note that Encore Pro rounds-up pressures to the next integer value so you don't see 8.5 cm for example, it's included as 9 cm).....

Got it?

Den

SleepAgain · Post by **SleepAgain** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:38 pm

Thanks to Wulfman for the link to Dere's comments regarding fractional pressure data. I guess I finally "got it" and that should be the end of my quest. But before I give up completly, I remember looking at EncorePro reports that contain intermediate pressure data. Don't you guys/gals see this on your reports?

I can't currently verify it myself. Ever since I changed computers and reloaded EncorePro I get an "Error 2018 - Page Margins are Too Larget" whenever I try to generate a EncorePro report. Anyone knows how to fix this?

Perhaps the rounding occurs when EncorePro exports data to be used externally by applications such as MyEncore.

Grandpy. Perhaps I am mistaken, but the way I interpret a +/- 1 cm h20 of pressure uncertainty is that for example:

- If I dial for 8.5 I can only be "certain" that I will get a pressure somewhere in the 7.5 to 9.5 range and that

- If I dial for 9 I can only be "certain" that I will get a pressure somewhere in the 8 to 10 range

==> so there is still 0.5 of "likely" spread between these two dailed values, and if I assign 9 to results from both I am throwing away data.

If you see holes in my argument, please feel free to "put me out of my misery".

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:47 pm

You can only be certain what your pressures are if you use a correct Manometer. The calibration can be off on any machine. Jim

What we are saying is that close is good enough, and is you use your results from the software, your results are what matter, not a (Number?) on a graph.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:54 pm

Goofproof wrote:What we are saying is that close is good enough, and is you use your results from the software, your results are what matter, not a (Number?) on a graph.

ABSOLUTELY!!!

Den

SleepAgain · Post by **SleepAgain** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:42 pm

I certainly agree that getting good results is what really matters.

However, in the context of a properly generated AHI-versus-pressure curve the best results are to be found at the pressure at which a global minimum for AHI is obtained.

If your global optimum happens to occur at an intermediate pressure, wouldn't you like to find out what that pressure happens to be.

As I mentioned earlier, I experience significant (and somewhat reproducible)differences in my by changing CPAP pressure by only 0.5 cm h20.

Thanks to all the replied to my post. Rest assured that I have incorporated the perspectives you offered into my thinking

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:25 pm

SleepAgain,

Your profile says that you have the REMstar Auto. If that's the case, are you running it in CPAP or APAP mode?
What "optimum" are you trying to get? If you're trying to get a consistent number night after night, I think you're in for a big disappointment.....it AIN'T gonna happen. Tweaking with the pressures by 0.5 may be fine, but I doubt if your system (body) is that sensitive or consistent. There are SO many things that can affect your numbers.....what you eat, drink, how tired you are, etc., etc. Also, these machines read air flow and that leaves a whole lot more variables wide open.
A couple of weeks ago, I had three consecutive nights with an AHI of 0.2 and I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with my machine.....that's never happened before.....and the next night I found out that my machine WAS working OK.

I don't mean to disappoint you, but that's the reality.

Best wishes,

Den