[Product Review] Migrating from S9 Autoset to Airsense 10-Comparing Therapy Modes

[becker44a]

I recently switched from my 6+ year old Resmed S9 Autoset to an Airsense 10 Autoset For Her.  The A10 machine has 3 treament modes: Autoset/Standard response, Autoset/Soft response, and Autoset For Her.  Of course, I had no idea which mode would work best for me, so I needed to run an experiment.  

Starting on May 1st, I ran with the Autoset/Standard mode, as I thought that would be the most like the S9.  For several years my AHI has been averaging < 0.5, so that was no basis for comparing the machines or modes.  However, I do experience Aerophagia, so lower pressure works well to minimise that discomfort.  Since Resmed pressure is driven largely by Flow Limits, I decided to monitor Flow Limit and Pressure statistics.  I did not switch OSCAR from AHI to RDI, as the S9 does not detect RERAs, and I wanted to keep the basic measures directly comparable.  I have now finished testing all the A10 modes, and I am summarizing the results below.

Test Results:
Mode           Flow Limit Max       95% Pressure  
  S9 Autoset      .292             14.66
A10 Standard    .246            13.50
    A10 Soft        .077            11.04
 A10 ForHer      .281            12.62

Conclusions:  
Resmed has clearly improved the Auto-adjust algorithms between the S9 and A10 series machines.  The Base mode of the A10 (Autoset/Standard) resulted in a drop of my 95% pressure of more than 1cm.  The Autoset For Her mode was not much different from the Autoset/Standard mode.  However, the Autoset/Soft response mode was significantly better than all others, and my 95% pressure is just over 11cm, down by more than 3.6cm compared to the S9.  This is huge for someone with Aerophagia.  I now plan to switch to the Autoset/Soft response mode, and continue to monitor for a while, to see if this trend continues.

Suggestions:
We are all different, and react to the machines differently, so my results don't necessarily mean anything for another.  But, if considering an upgrade from an S9 Autoset, it is reasonable to expect some improvement in therapy.  And it's worth the time to test the A10 treatment modes, because one may have significantly better results than others.

[Sleeprider]

Thanks for your post! Would you mind if I moved this post to Reviews and changed the title to add Comparing Therapy Modes?

[becker44a]

Hi SR,
That's fine with me.

[SevereApnea]

[quote pid='356611' dateline='1593640172']


Test Results:
Mode           Flow Limit Max       95% Pressure  
  S9 Autoset      .292             14.66
A10 Standard    .246            13.50
    A10 Soft        .077            11.04
 A10 ForHer      .281            12.62


[/quote]

Hi Becker44a

That is a good review.
I haven't changed my own settings from A10 Standard yet, still sorting out best pressures to see how low I can go.

What are your thoughts on why the big difference between Flow Limit Max between A10 Soft and the others?
That seems a huge difference in values.

(Sorry about the late response, just going through the forum posts slowly.)

[OpalRose]

becker,
I missed this thread somewhere along the way, but am curious how long you experimented with each mode?
It looks like approximately 2 weeks for each therapy mode?

Good review!

[becker44a]

Hi SevereApnia,
I have no theory on why the Soft mode works for me.  Resmed has a graph on their website that shows how the For Her mode differs from the Standard mode, but I've never found anything similar describing the Soft mode.  But the experiments sure proved how important the Flow Limits are in Resmed's algorithms.

Hi OpalRose,
For the S9 stats, I took the 1st 4 weeks of April to get a good baseline.  I then ran the A10 /Standard for all of May.  In June, I ran 2 weeks in Soft mode, then 2 weeks in For Her mode.  Now in July, I have switched back to Soft mode, and I am continuing to monitor the stats.  So far, the Flow Limit max is averaging 0.08, and the 95% Pressure is still hovering at 11.  On the A10, I have never recorded anything above 0 for the 95% Flow Limit, in any mode. 

I think they made this machine just for me . . .  Couldn't be better!  

[OpalRose]

Glad you found what works best for you.

[SevereApnea]

Clearly the Soft Mode was good for your aerophagia. Did you happen to notice any improvement in sleep quality/how you feel when you woke up?

Also: I presume you kept your pressures and EPR values relatively constant during the trials?
Are you still in Soft Mode?

I wonder how many others have found this useful and how often Soft Mode is recommended by DMEs/Sleep Doctors?

[Bobaloo]

Great review. My 2020 ResMed A10 AutoSet includes the "Soft" response mode option as an alternative to "Standard". I believe it was added to the "non-Her" A10 AutoSet software fairly recently, but not sure when. Of course it does not include the "For Her" option setting. I'm going to try the "Soft" mode to see what effects it has on my own flow limits plus dialing in lower pressures for my own aerophagia. Thanks!

[becker44a]

Clearly the Soft Mode was good for your aerophagia. Did you happen to notice any improvement in sleep quality/how you feel when you woke up?

Also: I presume you kept your pressures and EPR values relatively constant during the trials?
Are you still in Soft Mode?

I wonder how many others have found this useful and how often Soft Mode is recommended by DMEs/Sleep Doctors?

Sleep experience seems similar to before, except that I rarely now get waked up by a pressure excursion up toward max.  Pressures and EPR were not changed at all - 10/20 EPR 3.  I wanted to make 1 change at a time.  And yes, I'm still using Soft mode - don't have any plans to change that.  I expect that many DMEs/Respiratory Techs/Sleep Doctors are as ignorant of these modes as they are about so much else.  When I first requested the Autoset For Her unit, my DME person told me that they didn't carry it because the only difference was the color and markings.  I had to explain to her that it had additional treatment modes, and insist I get what I wanted.