ResScan Download Question

[Roman Hokie]

Hey, gang. Using ResScan 3.10 and don't have a card reader (it's in storage). Any idea if or how I might be able to read from an external/portable hard drive? I've got all my data saved on it. It's been 6 months since I last downloaded (started therapy in June) in September and I'd like to see how I'm doing, overall.

Thanks!

[mstevens]

Using ResScan 3.10 and don't have a card reader

You know that one of those nearly-free USB SDcard readers will work just fine, right? You don't need to use the ResMed one. I use the built-in ones in my desktop and notebook computers, but I tested one that came free when I bought an SDcard and it worked perfectly.

Any idea if or how I might be able to read from an external/portable hard drive? I've got all my data saved on it.

You can copy your .rlk files into your patient folder (the one that's most likely got your name on it) and ResScan should include that data when you fire it up.

[AMUW]

Hi mstevens,

Thanks for informing us that there is very little that's ResMed proprietary about its SD card... that one only needs an SD to USB adapter.
I have almost the same CPAP hardware as your profile shows, and have gotten a lot of good info from ResScan v.3.10.
I wish there were a separate "discussion room" just for ResScan users. Maybe you can comment on a few glitches and robustness issues I've observed:
- the flow generator will only accept a single SD card ... no other; apparently an efficiency or patient data security feature
- if I leave the SD card out of the machine for a night, then I loose all but the statistical summary for that night; so apparently the detail data is only stored on the SD card
- I've learned to incrementally update the ResScan database in my PC ... one has to do it at least once a week, since the detail data older than 7 days gets zeroed out to save storage
- if you wish to transfer the entire database to another PC, you need not just daily RLK files, but everything in the patient db
- what I haven't learned to do, and ResMed support won't help me: I'd like to export the data out in a universal format, then import to a smarter signal processing program (like Matlab), to obtain frequency response data and higher order statistical and random analysis summaries. The SD card even has the detail in EMF (European Data Format?), but won't let me unscramble it.

[mstevens]

Thanks for informing us that there is very little that's ResMed proprietary about its SD card... that one only needs an SD to USB adapter.

It's not just "very little." There's nothing at all proprietary about it except the data that the machine puts on it.

- the flow generator will only accept a single SD card ... no other; apparently an efficiency or patient data security feature

Every SD card I've put in my S9 works just fine, not just the one that came with it. The card does need to be blank and formatted in FAT when it's inserted into the machine. I've done this when I want to change settings using ResScan and didn't want to erase everything on the card. (It's easier to set reminders on the computer than on the flow generator.)

- if I leave the SD card out of the machine for a night, then I loose all but the statistical summary for that night; so apparently the detail data is only stored on the SD card

According to the ResMed website, this is correct.

- I've learned to incrementally update the ResScan database in my PC ... one has to do it at least once a week, since the detail data older than 7 days gets zeroed out to save storage

This is, apparently, widely known. It'll keep summary data for a year, highly-detailed (flow) data for a week, and detailed data for a month (I think). I'm a bit obsessive about this so have only ever skipped one night in transferring data from my card to a computer.

- if you wish to transfer the entire database to another PC, you need not just daily RLK files, but everything in the patient db.

I did not know that. In my case, transferring .rlk files from one computer to another did result in those nights' appearing in ResScan on the computer to which they were moved without my having had to do anything with the PatientDetails.db file.

[idamtnboy]

- what I haven't learned to do, and ResMed support won't help me: I'd like to export the data out in a universal format, then import to a smarter signal processing program (like Matlab), to obtain frequency response data and higher order statistical and random analysis summaries. The SD card even has the detail in EMF (European Data Format?), but won't let me unscramble it.

Resmed officially doesn't even want you to have the program, but obviously they're willing to look the other way or the program would require a product key and registration. That's why they won't even acknowledge you're asking about Resscan.

You can read the EDF files on the SD card with at least two programs. One is EDF Browser. It's open source, free, and good. The other I've used is EDFtoascii.exe. It extracts four separate files from the EDF and puts them into a CSV format which open right up in a spreadsheet. You need to manually combine the signals file and data file to have a complete file to look at. You also have to calculate the time stamp for every data entry from the start time in the header file added to the time increment in the data file.
EDF browser also does an export but it's more of a hassle to use and the output is identical. I copy EDFtoascii to the directory where I have the EDF files and drag the files onto it. The output stays in the same directory.
I've not familiar with Matlab. Would you be inputting CSV files? If so, you may have to manually add a header line at the beginning of the data file to identify the fields. EDF format uses numbers for field identifiers and uses the signal file to make the correlation between the fields and field names.

[Roman Hokie]

You know that one of those nearly-free USB SDcard readers will work just fine, right? You don't need to use the ResMed one. I use the built-in ones in my desktop and notebook computers, but I tested one that came free when I bought an SDcard and it worked perfectly.

You can copy your .rlk files into your patient folder (the one that's most likely got your name on it) and ResScan should include that data when you fire it up.

I'll have to try this at home. I have a USB SDCard reader. It's freezing in a storage facility and I have no idea which box it's in. Just looking for an alternative to it, that's all. I have all the data copied onto my portable drive (used my kid's PC with a card reader built-in and then disconnected the HD and hooked it into my PC).

Thanks, mstevens.

[AMUW]

mstevens and idamtnboy, thanks for your interesting replies.
I hope that I am still within the original thread objective of enhanced home CPAP capabilities ... and let me go a bit further.
1. re patient file and daily record transfer:

-if you wish to transfer the entire database to another PC, you need not just daily RLK files, but everything in the patient db.

I did not know that. In my case, transferring .rlk files from one computer to another did result in those nights' appearing in ResScan on the computer to which they were moved without my having had to do anything with the PatientDetails.db file.

I was updating (downloading) just like you say, until the start of a new calendar month … Then suddenly ResScan showed only statistics and bar graphs, said “detail data not available” for the day, even though the new RLK file was in the directory. Simple fix: if you compare all file names and dates between your 2 PCs, you’ll note updates of the other small files in the patient db (maybe they contain pointers)

2. re export to smarter post-processors: Matlab is a general purpose package with open source, including a powerful Digital Signal Processing capability, and by necessity it imports data from other sources in several formats http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/i ... 5s7ig.html

3. re any export from ResScan

I am not familiar with Matlab. Would you be inputting CSV files? If so, you may have to manually add a header line at the beginning of the data file to identify the fields.

I can get only summary data in CSV format.

4. have any of you tried to integrate into your home CPAP studies oximetry? so far I've borrowed a ResMed ApneaLink and a Repironics Nonin 2500: they each produce their data independently of ResScan; I can only correlate apneas to desaturations visually on the graphs. Would be nice to get a smarter evaluation of my current sleep fragmentation problems upon sleep onset and upon premature awakening with nasal congestion.

[idamtnboy]

3. re any export from ResScan

I am not familiar with Matlab. Would you be inputting CSV files? If so, you may have to manually add a header line at the beginning of the data file to identify the fields.

I can get only summary data in CSV format.

You should have files with BRP and PLD in the file name on your SD card. The BRP file is the hi-res flow data. The PLD has most everything else. Oximetry data is going to be in the SAD file.

What files do you have in the DATALOG directory on your SD card?

What machine, exactly, do you have? Does it say Autoset above the Start/Stop button?

[Roman Hokie]

Yer right, idamtnboy. Only those two file formats and only for a month. WTF?

So... any other ideas? Am I really unable to download the data from my portable HD? I'm getting the impression no...

[idamtnboy]

So... any other ideas? Am I really unable to download the data from my portable HD? I'm getting the impression no...

Two topics going on in this thread confused me. If you are wanting to d/l data into Resscan from your HD, you've got it right. The answer is no, you can't. Resscan will only read raw data into Resscan from a USB card. If you have data from the past you haven't downloaded into Resscan you will have to copy it to an SD card. The card must have two STR files that cover the period of the detail data. That's usually no problem because 365 days worth of data is stored in the STR file. The DATALOG directory has to have all the PLD, BRP, SAD, and EVE files, both the edf and crc files, you want to d/l into Resscan. In addition to the two STR files the root directory has to have the following: identification.crc, identification.tgt, journal.dat, plus the folder DATALOG. The three files can be any date as long as they are for the machine you are using. Resscan isn't particular about the order of the files on the card, but the S9 is.

The safest, actually only, thing to do is use a different SD card than the one from your machine, and if possible make sure the files in the DATALOG come up to the same date as the STR file. Backup all the rlk files from your patient folder into another folder before downloading. If you choose overwrite during download, detail and hi-res data not on your SD card will get wiped out of your patient folder. If you choose discard, detail and hi-res data on the card earlier than the current last date in your Resscan data will not get downloaded. Confusing? Yes.

Check out the discussion in this thread: viewtopic/t61268/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60 ... 55#p572355. The subject of backup data and reconstructing SD data is discussed there.

What data exactly do you have on your portable HD, and for what time frame? When was the last time you made a copy of the data on your SD card? If you have not copied your SD card for some time, then the only PLD, SAD, and EVE (detail) data you have is 30 days, and the only BRP (hi-res flow) data you have is 7 days. Everything between those dates and what's on your portable HD is gone, never to be recovered as it doesn't exist any more, period.

[AMUW]

Check out the discussion in this thread: viewtopic/t61268/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60 ... 55#p572355. The subject of backup data and reconstructing SD data is discussed there.
What data exactly do you have on your portable HD, and for what time frame?

The continuation of the above-suggested thread takes you to an excellent tutorial for ResScan ... which I bet will answer your question.
You don't necessarily need the SD card archives. I have also archived my Patient folder created in ResScan, and can go to ResScan on another PC with it.

[AMUW]

idamtnboy, let's see whether I understand:
I have the ResMed S9 Autoset + ResScan 3.10 on a WinXP PC (haven't tried yet to run on Win7).

(edited for clarity) re Export from ResScan after download: I can get only summary data in CSV format... as per User's Manual.

You should have files with BRP and PLD in the file name on your SD card. The BRP file is the hi-res flow data. The PLD has most everything else. Oximetry data is going to be in the SAD file. What files do you have in the DATALOG directory on your SD card?

OK, I see the file names BRP, PLD, SAD, EVE in the DATALOG directory (in pairs of edf and crc formatted files, ~350KB per hour recorded), written to the SD card every time a recording session is ended. And the detail data disappears from the SD card for dates older than 7 days ... and certain things disappear for days older than 30 days.
And if one forgets to insert the SD card into the machine for a night, then the detailed data is lost for that night.
The SD card appears to be the only place where 3rd party software appears to be able to grab the detailed data. Looks like the SD card has been unscrambled so far by a few sleep center computers only to extract the summary data.

[moresleep]

Hi mstevens,

Thanks for informing us that there is very little that's ResMed proprietary about its SD card... that one only needs an SD to USB adapter.
I have almost the same CPAP hardware as your profile shows, and have gotten a lot of good info from ResScan v.3.10.
I wish there were a separate "discussion room" just for ResScan users. Maybe you can comment on a few glitches and robustness issues I've observed:
- the flow generator will only accept a single SD card ... no other; apparently an efficiency or patient data security feature
- if I leave the SD card out of the machine for a night, then I loose all but the statistical summary for that night; so apparently the detail data is only stored on the SD card
- I've learned to incrementally update the ResScan database in my PC ... one has to do it at least once a week, since the detail data older than 7 days gets zeroed out to save storage
- if you wish to transfer the entire database to another PC, you need not just daily RLK files, but everything in the patient db
- what I haven't learned to do, and ResMed support won't help me: I'd like to export the data out in a universal format, then import to a smarter signal processing program (like Matlab), to obtain frequency response data and higher order statistical and random analysis summaries. The SD card even has the detail in EMF (European Data Format?), but won't let me unscramble it.

How would analyzing the Cpap data with Matlab help you understand sleep breathing events better than Rescan, which is written specifically to analyze and score sleep study data?

I am interested because I have rigged up a way to record flow data from my legacy Respironics AutoSV (which, unlike the System One version, does not record flow data), by using a differential pressure sensor circuit with lines coming from the Cpap and mask ends of the hose. I record the data to a hard drive using a simple A/D USB device. Viewing the wave data manually has given me some useful information regarding the duration of my apneic events, but it would be nice to get the data into software that could, at least, get me from one event to the next. Maybe I should be trying to port it to Rescan or Matlab...

[idamtnboy]

How would analyzing the Cpap data with Matlab help you understand sleep breathing events better than Rescan, which is written specifically to analyze and score sleep study data?

I am interested because I have rigged up a way to record flow data from my legacy Respironics AutoSV (which, unlike the System One version, does not record flow data), by using a differential pressure sensor circuit with lines coming from the Cpap and mask ends of the hose. I record the data to a hard drive using a simple A/D USB device. Viewing the wave data manually has given me some useful information regarding the duration of my apneic events, but it would be nice to get the data into software that could, at least, get me from one event to the next. Maybe I should be trying to port it to Rescan or Matlab...

Don't bother trying to bring the data into Resscan. Resscan uses CRC files to authenticate the raw data files on the SD card. No one has been able to determine, or has been willing to post, the algorithm Resmed devices use to create the CRC files. Make any kind of change whatever in a file on the SD card and Resscan will not bring it into Resscan.

I'm not acquainted with Matlab so cannot offer any comments about what it would be like.

What kind of frequency are you sampling the pressures to determine flow rate? The S9 samples it 25/sec. I don't know what the other CPAP devices do.

EDIT: On second memory, someone did offer a hack that will allow Resscan to read files without verifying the CRC, but I don't recall the details.

[moresleep]

I've been setting the sampling rate at 20hz but can set it at anything reasonable.

I'll try to find that ResScan hack, thanks.