Question [re: PR Algorithm]

[SleepyHenry]

Is the Algorithm used by PR in DreamStation the same old one they used in Respironics System One REM Star auto machine or is it new or modified in some way?    Thanks.

[sawinglogz]

I don't think PR has published any details on the specific algorithms used per product line, but I'd be surprised if there was a substantial change. Most of what we know comes from their patents.

Are you feeling a difference?

[SarcasticDave94]

I think it's been mentioned somewhere here within the forum that the Respironics algorithm has been basically unaltered for at least 3 generations going from DreamStation and backwards.

[SleepyHenry]

No......Just unhappiness and a multiplicity of questions regarding DreamStation from too much of a "Black box" provided by PR.
Thanks

[SleepyHenry]

I wonder how much of DreamMapper\OSCAR results today, come from the "new" device=Dream Station.......and how much from the "old"? algorithm. It could use some improvement.
Guess it will remain a secret.
Yet PR is collecting a huge amount of data from DreamStation to do what with it? They must be aware that by now enough bench and clinical data has been collected showing ResMed AirCurve 10 provides the patient with a better device than DS?.Prescribers should be gravitating toward using it more than DS.
How much does it really cost to download a software algorithm update?


Lastly,the VS2 snoring score has been a continuing conondrum. It must be important, but doing what?
Your hypothesis that the PR algorithm has not changed since first introduced makes me think that this could be very important in controlling the device's pressure response. When it was first conceived. "Snoring", was almost synonymous with sleep apnea. (Hoping you are old enough to remember the late 80's). Today significant number of OSA patients skip this initial sign on the road to upper airway obstruction. So that would make it an algorithm in need of improvement.
Thanks for listening to me..I really owe OSCAR\SleepyHead sofware a big thank for helping me a lot in decreasing my EDS and brain fog.

[sawinglogz]

How much does it really cost to download a software algorithm update?
...
When it was first conceived. "Snoring", was almost synonymous with sleep apnea. (Hoping you are old enough to remember the late 80's). Today significant number of OSA patients skip this initial sign on the road to upper airway obstruction. So that would make it an algorithm in need of improvement.

On the first point, there's a huge amount of regulatory burden in making changes like that, with clinical trials required, etc. So it is fairly expensive.

On the second, the machines do look at a lot of different things. Snoring, when it happens, does indicate the beginnings of (possibly mild) airway collapse, so the machines do look for that kind of noise in the airflow. But the bigger thing they monitor is overall airflow, e.g. tidal volume, minute ventilation, airway resistance, etc.. The formal definitions of apnea and hypopnea are related to that, so it makes sense that's what they'd focus on.

For straight CPAP, the main algorithmic difference is in Flex vs. EPR. For auto CPAP the differences are more extensive.