Difference between 560 and 760?

Ive searched the web to try to find the difference between the respironics 560 and 760 and so far the only difference I can find is the price and the added 5cm of pressure. The price is more than doubled! Are there any other major differences?

200?

Simply put, the 760 is a BiPap which is a much more sophisticated device than an auto CPAP.

A BiPap user should swing by shortly and give the full story.

The 560 is a single pressure delivery machine. It has 2 modes of operation...cpap mode with a fixed single pressure and apap mode with a single pressure that will auto adjust as it senses the need withing the parameters set.
Single pressure ...same pressure during inhale and exhale.

The 760 is a bilevel level pressure delivery machine. It offers 2 separate pressures available... one for inhale and another for exhale. There can be a wide difference between inhale (IPAP) and exhale (EPAP) or a narrow difference...it all depends on the setting parameters chosen. Bilevel pressure delivery..2 separate pressures that change with each inhale and exhale.
It has 3 modes of operation available.
CPAP mode which is just plain cpap with fixed single pressure delivery.
Bilevel mode which is fixed bilevel pressure delivery. EPAP and IPAP are fix throughout the night.
Bilevel Auto mode...which is bilevel pressure delivery and the 2 pressures can vary through the night depending on what the machine senses and parameters set.
There are also some other setting changes available but the main difference is the bilevel pressure delivery.

wiki/index.php/BiPAP

So Aflex on the 560 is not the same or similar to bi pap?

acidragon wrote:So Aflex on the 560 is not the same or similar to bi pap?

Nope. AFlex offers SOME relieve on exhale, but it's pretty minor. Resmed offers EPR, which is different from AFlex. EPR offers (I think) up to 3cm pressure relief. Aflex is a whole different banana ... it senses you are exhaling and provides a quick dip in pressure, but I think it's less than 3cm. In my opinion, AFlex is better than EPR at keeping your airway open while making it comfortable to breathe. A Bi-PAP, properly set, or even better an auto-Bi-Pap, will work to give you more comfort and prevent central apneas. AFlex and EPR aren't effective at preventing central apneas.

Strictly speaking, EPR and Aflex are comfort features, while BiPAP is a full treatment methodology.

Interesting! Whats funny is on aflex I feel no resistance on exhale but that can also be because my pressure isnt that high. So would having that comfort relief raise the chances of having events since the pressure is dropped? Would going on straight auto reduce AHIs?

AFlex exhale relief is based on flow rate or your own breathing force and rhythm.
http://aflex.respironics.com/
It doesn't reduce the pressure during exhale all that much. At least no where like ResMed's EPR does.
It feels like normal breathing because the timing is right.

It's unlikely that the minor reduction during exhale is allowing any events to sneak past the defenses but you could turn it off to see if it makes any difference in AHI.
If my AHI was a little higher than I wanted and it was because of obstructive or hyponea events...I would just increase the minimum a tiny bit before I would change AFlex.
If your AHI has more clear airway events than you want...pressure changes won't fix those anyway.
Want to see how my body reacted when I decided to not use AFlex one night? It was ugly.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=67883&p=631376&hili ... mb#p631376

Wow how do you have like almost no leaks on your normal night?! If thats the way it suppose to look on the graph Im losing air somewhere... Its like almost a constant under the 20 mark throughout the night

acidragon wrote:Wow how do you have like almost no leaks on your normal night?! If thats the way it suppose to look on the graph Im losing air somewhere... Its like almost a constant under the 20 mark throughout the night

That flat 0.0 line....that's an optical illusion. Your 20 mark is just fine because it is total leak.
If you are using EncoreBasic I can tell you how to change the leak setting for unintentional/excess leak if you want.
Actually that is a software setting change I made. I set the software to show only excess leaks. If I had it set the other way which is what you are seeing with total leak it would be around 30 L/min and a straight line.

Sort of like this one.

I take it that the air coming out of the vent is part of the normal leak?!

khauser wrote:Strictly speaking, EPR and Aflex are comfort features, while BiPAP is a full treatment methodology.

That's something of a false distinction, I believe. Probably at least partly to get around insurance or regulatory requirements. Most importantly, they do sometimes have an effect on the results of the therapy.

acidragon wrote: I take it that the air coming out of the vent is part of the normal leak?!

Yes, all masks have "exhale vents" where stale air is allowed to leak out all the time the mask is pressurized. This is referred to as the "intentional" leak and it's necessary. Some programs or CPAP machines estimate the intentional leak and display "unintentional" leak, but there's no surefire way to tell what's intentional and unintentional.

Re: 760 vs. 560.

As for the 760 vs. the 560, it's important to realize that the 760 won't do the exact same thing as the 560, so it's not "better" in a precise sense.

For some people the 560 will be better than the 760.