The New xPAP Technology Found Thread

[SickAndTired]

I'm creating this thread in the hopes of having one central location to go to, in order to find out about the newest technology available, or on the horizon (took me longer than I liked to re-find the link below that someone had posted in another message).


Here's a link to the Fisher & Paykel HC604 CPAP with ThermoSmart (heated hose).


Does anyone have any information on an Auto-Bi-Level PAP machine?

[rested gal]

Combination auto/bi-level machine (may still be undergoing FDA trials in the U.S., but is already available in other countries):

The CS 2 on ResMed's Australian website

[dsm]

The new light ResMed S-8 Escape gets launched here by ResMed on Friday week.

I am not sure if it has had its official launch in USA yet.

It has a card reader built in - goes the extra yard in terms of patient info.

Don't know much more about it yet. (I expect to get a hands on with one in the next few days).

Cheers

DSM

[WillSucceed]

Several weeks ago I spoke with the ResMed rep. here in Toronto about this CS2 device. It is available in Canada and costs BIG bucks.

You lot in the US should have it soon.

[SickAndTired]

Here's a link to the ResMed S8 Escape CPAP

[Sleepless on LI]

Figures, I just got the Remstar Auto with CFlex and now something new and better is coming out...I guess if this is working for me, I should keep quiet and be thankful. Okay, I will.

[SickAndTired]

sleepless: I'm new to this as well, but I have a feeling that xPAP technology has a lot in common with the early days of the computer industry. At least in the rate at which improvements are coming (which is why I started this thread).

Unfortunately, this means that there will always be something better tomorrow. Of course, this depends on your definition of better... just because there is a new widget that is lighter, faster, cheaper, whatever... doesn't mean that the old widget has suddenly lost any of the attributes that caused you to buy it in the first place.

IOW (in other words), the release of a new auto-bi-level CPAP machine won't cause the Remstar Autos we currently own to suddenly stop working for us! <grin>

Of course, hopefully you are also one of the lucky ones, like me, whose insurance company is renting the machine for you at the moment. I'm hoping that the new machines come out before the "must-buy" deadline arrives on my current machine, so that I can get my doctor to write a new RX and switch over to the new one. Of course, this strategy depends on deductible, doctor, DME, etc.

[Sleepless on LI]

S&T,
Good comparison of the cpap machines to computers. But I guess that applies to anything that improves with technology. Cell phones, televisions, computers and the like.
The Remstar Auto was just bought for me by my insurance company. They rented the machine for me in June, then part of July and bought it for me just now, at the end of July. But I agree. If it's not broken, don't fix it. If it works and gets you a great night's sleep, who cares for now what the new technology brings? If it's something so unbelievably earth-shattering that I would just have to have it, I'll buy it myself. But if I can continue to sleep the way I did last night and feel this good, I don't think I'm going to worry about what is coming out next week. You can never keep up unless you buy a new machine every month, and that ain't happening...
Hope you continue to have great nights, too. Thanks for the comment.

[ozij]

Or, as I read in a computer magazine in the beginning of the last decade for the previuos millenium

Better is the enemy of good enough.

O.

[rpalmer]

Several weeks ago I spoke with the ResMed rep. here in Toronto about this CS2 device. It is available in Canada and costs BIG bucks.

You lot in the US should have it soon.

Will -
Can you define "BIG bucks"? I just talked to ResMed's product manager for the AutoSet CS.2 at their home office in CA this AM & he couldn't (wouldn't?) quote me a price because they don't sell direct to consumers. It's very good news that the Canadian rep told you we should have it in the US soon; the US home office guy I talked to also couldn't give me an estimate of how long the FDA approval process might take. He was pretty sure it would be at least 6 months, but it could be a lot longer.

I joked (only about half joking!) that maybe I should just drive to Canada, it's only about a 6 hour drive to Toronto, so I can get the machine now. He suggested I might want to try Vitalaire, a Canadian DME, who are handling the machine. Are you familiar with them? I shudder to think what a DME would be selling the unit for, where if I wait for it to be cleared by FDA, CPAP.com will probably have it available for half the DME price. He added that he just got a phone call yesterday from a lady who had gone to Canada to get the machine and she tearfully thanked him saying her husband was getting the 1st good nights sleep he's experienced for years.

SickandTired -
If you'll follow the link Rested Gal included in her post, then click on "Brochure" near the upper right hand corner of the page you'll be on, it'll automatically download an excellent .pdf brochure. Complete with appropriate citations, it would be a great piece to show your Dr if you need it to get an Rx.

RG, as she so often does, in fact got me going on this quest a few weeks ago on a different thread when she mentioned Cheyne-Stokes Respiration (CSR). I'd never heard of that, asked her what it was, and she got right back to me with an excellent definition and the same link she just gave you.

• I know when she finally meets St. Peter (hopefully a long time from now) he'll throw open the Pearly Gates & exclaim: "Rested Gal, come on in. We've been waiting for you, just hoped we wouldn't see you for awhile. Your place is well-earned & waiting for you!"

I suffer from CHF, COPD, yada, yada, yada and Orthopnea, a condition that can make it difficult to breathe when laying down, often only relieved by sitting up. I think it's likely that OSA & many of these other conditions are inter-related, so it's often difficult to identify which ailment causes which symptom. I've wondered if some of my sleep arousals aren't caused by the Orthopnea, rather than OSA. When O2 saturation drops to a certain point & I wake up gasping for air, which condition caused the arousal?

It seems the ResMed Autoset CS.2 might address the symptom regardless of its cause, but I'm a little concerned with a caveat in their .pdf brochure: "* AutoSet CS.2 is not for respiratory failure patients." I'm not sure what the definition of "respiratory failure" is, hopefully not Orthopnea, surely not OSA.

Thank you for your input WillSucceed & Rested Gal. SickAndTired, I'll be interested to follow this thread to see what responses you get. Thanks for creating it.