CMS50I-CMS50F oximeters: technical and uploading differences and limits

[2SleepBetta]

Many thanks for your responses Walla Walla, Crimson Nape, pholynyk and ShaunBlake,

No surprise. I got lots of good input from you for deciding to buy or not buy another Contec and for choosing between the recording 50I and 50F models.

I called and spoke with a rep for supplier no. 19 to check on battery replacements. I understood him to indicate the following: 

-the 50F sells about 50 to 1 vs. their other oximeters;
-they do battery replacements of 50F batteries;
-the 50I has to be sent to Contec in China for battery replacement, costing about $40 for repair and shipping; 
-he characterized the 50I as the better unit (possibly just due to more features);
-neither provides real time uploading to a computer, as you know;
-they cannot get the 50I, lacking as it does an FDA approval, as you know;
-the 50F, does not provide a perfusion index, as you know;
-their 50F records one sleep session (8 hours?) and does it by overwriting any earlier recording--possibly ShaunBlake has an enhanced later model;
-I didn't get a straight answer on their 50F's version number;
-the rep didn't seem to know much about or be impressed with SleepyHead (its advantages in matching up SpO2 data with SH's presentation of sleep session parameters).

Again, thank you.

2SB

[ShaunBlake]

...
I called and spoke with a rep for supplier no. 19 to check on battery replacements. I understood him to indicate the following: 
...

So, have you decided? Is perfusion index still a must-have, or do you not require it now, having discovered what yours is?

C'mon, don't leave me in suspense, it's keeping me up! 

[2SleepBetta]

...
I called and spoke with a rep for supplier no. 19 to check on battery replacements. I understood him to indicate the following: 
...

So, have you decided? Is perfusion index still a must-have, or do you not require it now, having discovered what yours is?

C'mon, don't leave me in suspense, it's keeping me up! 

Taking you seriously, Shaun (against better judgment ), I never said having the PI was crucial. Further, the PI is a quite variable number over time, not just one number--"what yours [your number] is"--to be "discovered".

So far the 50I's PI indication has been a matter of limited interest that I have read some about. I'd like to know more about how it can shed light on any aspect of sleep apnea or any other conditions I've encountered in periods of caring for four nonagenarian elders, one still with us at age 94 who may beat our 95 record. I'm guessing that experts on the forum could shed some light on this part of the oximeter topic.

I've read somewhere that a PI level  falling and remaining below, say, 1.0 is (is often?--was it?) one indication that a terminally ill/injured person is/may-be near their anticipated death. I suspect parts of the body begin to show a bluish tinge.

Perfusion of oxygenated blood in brain and heart tissue is a/the/our prime objective, as I understand it, and xPAPers can use oximeters to monitor blood oxygenation and to indicate a likely/possible sufficiency of vital perfusion--but not become obsessed by it. Just learn what I/we can if our device yields something relevant.

The graph  of my PI tends to show a step pattern, with a repeated, rapid rise and fall--beat by beat oscillations, obscure at the graphic's zoomed scale?--between about zero and a fixed value. The upper limit is as high as 14 but more often is lower through a span of time. Each different step level maximum stays fixed over several minutes typically. There tends to be some consistency of the maxima of changing step levels for extended "quiet" periods spans of time in a sleep session.

I've wanted to see if the changes of step levels give indications of sleep position changes or other movements, but have not been able to see any plausibly consistent correlation with the graphics SleepyHead presents.

As I recall, one of the respondents above indicated that SH would present the PI along with pulse and SpO2. I'd like to know how to do that IF I spring for another 50I.

Hope this makes sense.

2SB

[Crimson Nape]

As I recall, one of the respondents above indicated that SH would present the PI along with pulse and SpO2. I'd like to know how to do that IF I spring for another 50I.

That was me!  The only way to display the PI data in SH is to perform a direct import from the 50I.  The PI parameter is ignored if you import from the SpO2 file.  In order for the direct import to correlate with your sleep data, you will need to use SH version 0.9.8.1, where the import function worked correctly.  

I have this neat idea, which I've never tried, that is to take the spO2 file generated by SH 0.9.8.1 and put it in my SH 1.0's data folder. This idea came about when I noticed that the spO2 data taken in 0.9.8.1 was updated correctly when I installed SH 1.0.  It's on my "round-toit" list.

-Red

[ShaunBlake]

...
I called and spoke with a rep for supplier no. 19 to check on battery replacements. I understood him to indicate the following: 
...

So, have you decided? Is perfusion index still a must-have, or do you not require it now, having discovered what yours is?

Taking you seriously, Shaun (against better judgment ), I never said having the PI was crucial. Further, the PI is a quite variable number over time, not just one number--"what yours [your number] is"--to be "discovered".

Yew mawk me et yer peril! (And being correct in your judgement will not save you!)

So far the 50I's PI indication has been a matter of limited interest that I have read some about...

 Glad I asked, I thought you had a higher interest/determination.

I've read somewhere that a PI level  falling and remaining below, say, 1.0 is (is often?--was it?) one indication that a terminally ill/injured person is/may-be near their anticipated death. I suspect parts of the body begin to show a bluish tinge.

I just read that a night or two ago.

Perfusion of oxygenated blood in brain and heart tissue is a/the/our prime objective, as I understand it, ...
The graph  of my PI tends to show a step pattern, with a repeated, rapid rise and fall--beat by beat oscillations...

NOT what I expected you to recount; my reading created the understanding that profusion would remain fairly uniform during periods of similar activity and would remain repetitive over time unless some change occurred -- disease/injury/etc.

As I recall, one of the respondents above indicated that SH would present the PI along with pulse and SpO2. I'd like to know how to do that IF I spring for another 50I.

Do you not have any old SpO2 files? Although not timely, they would be enlightening.

Hope this makes sense.

Yep, makes sense and gave me a big surprise.  I *love* data, and when I stumbled on your comment about the 50I providing PI, I got excited. (O2 is of much more interest to me now than it was before my bradycardia "event".) Nevertheless, I'm not sure I want to invest so much for that small bit of info -- particularly on a device that I know to have stretched the bounds of flaky beyond imagining.

Fanks sew muchly, ah'm berry grapeful!

[Peter Tan]

Hi Pholynyk,
I am new here and appreciate the work that you are doing very much.
I just bought an bluetooth oximeter (application model CMS50N) that sends data on SpO2 and PR(bpm) with time in .xls format.  I can get into Excel and save it as .csv and other formats I suppose but none of them are the formats that OSCAR can read, i.e. .spo, .spor, .spo2, .dat.  Is there a way to upload this data to provide any meaningful connection with the CPAP data from my Resmen Airsense 10.  I can send you the file if it will help.  Tips from anyone else on this forum will be much appreciated.
Thank you very much

[Crimson Nape]

Hi Peter Tan!  -  
You will probably need to use, Smart Device Assistant 3.1.0.1 software, or newer.  This should allow you to download the CMS50's data into the .SpO2 file.  Finding where it is stored on your PC is a bigger trick.  Here is an excerpt for our Wiki on this subject.

From the Wiki:
The software's default SpO2 data storage folder in Windows 10 is C:\users\user name\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Smart Device Assistant v3.1.0\Data. I copy CMS50F SpO2 data files from the default Smart Device Data folder to a new root directory folder named C:\SpO2_Data. Oscar will import the SpO2 data files directly from the C:\SpO2_Data folder. You must first have Oscar import your machine's sleep data file from your SD Card prior to importing the corresponding SpO2 data file from the same time frame.

Good luck!