Min Vent:?
Apnea: alarm for apnea event- could wake you up from sleeping
Ti:?
BPM: Breaths per minute, so if you set this on 20 will you the machine automatically make you breathe every 3 seconds?
I am trying 10 BPM again, original setting, but it seems like 1 breath every 6 seconds isn't enough?
Flex:
First, I do know that "Flex" is a technology first developed by Respironics to address the discomfort of sleeping against a continuous pressure provided by CPAP units. This technology/technique drops the pressuring during the expiration phase of breathing. It is NOT Bi-Level PAP therapy (BiPAP), which has a prescribed pressure for both inhalation and exhalation. Rather, it drops the pressure during exhalation to make it easier to breathe. As I've noted before, this drop does not "support" breathing. The pressure will not be enough to maintain an open airway.
Respironics then went on to create different Flex technologies for different types of units. For example, there is a Flex technology for BiPAP units. But they basically work on the same principle - decreasing the pressure a little during exhalation to make it easier to breathe.
The 1 to 3 denotes the drop off in pressure during the expiration phase of breathing. The least decrease in pressure is at a setting of 1. The greatest decrease in pressure is at a setting of 3.
Rise Time:
Second, the "Rise Time" value on the ASV unit shows the ventilator background of the ASV units. Rise time determines the speed with which the flow or pressure of the ventilator rises from exhalation to inhalation. The time it takes for this switch from one to the other is the "Rise Time".
A rise time of one (1) is a VERY short rise from exhalation to inhalation. Most people would find that to be COMPLETELY unacceptable. To me (when I've tinkered with it) it feels as if I was suddenly having some shop pressure tool pumping me full of air. No thanks!
A rise time of six (6) is much longer time to rise from exhalation to inhalation. Most people may find that to be too long. In fact, it might actually limit the amount of air that you inhale. If it is too long and you the unit decides you have not cycled your breathing it might actually truncate the intake and switch you to exhalation pressure. Also not good. To compensate, a long rise time may require a higher pressure from the ASV to meet your needs.
So, you might try to see if a Rise Time of 5 or 4 would help reduce the high pressures, by moving you more quickly to the inhalation pressure. But don't overdo it by moving to a Rise Time of 2 or 3. You would feel very rushed in that case.
Absolutely, see the last graph in the following summary of a couple studies. At 3 the pressure decreases to the point that the number of obstructive sleep apnea events increase. The more you back off the pressure, the more it is likely the pressure will not be enough to avoid an obstructive apnea.ameriken wrote:... Can these settings impact therapy and AHI? ...
http://cflex.respironics.com/PDF/101663 ... tudies.pdf
Interestingly, due to the decreased pressure the studies confirm my own experience. I got better sleep with a C-Flex setting of 1.
As to the Rise Time setting, as you can see a slightly lower Rise Time might decrease the top pressure to help you attain normal respiration during a central apnea.
Edit: My philips bipapst only has rise time of 1-3
