Sleepstyle (New Fisher & Paykel Cpap) [availability]

[Damian]

Hi people's, I'm about to purchase my first CPAP machine. I'm located in Australia.
I noticed that the Fisher and Paykel SleepStyle isn't readily available in the United States. Why is this?
If anyone is using the SLEEPSTYLE, is it worth paying the extra money?

[srlevine1]

Hi people's, I'm about to purchase my first CPAP machine. I'm located in Australia.
I noticed that the Fisher and Paykel SleepStyle isn't readily available in the United States. Why is this?
If anyone is using the SLEEPSTYLE, is it worth paying the extra money?

Short answer: it is new to the market and not in wide distribution.

Monday, May 22, 2017 8:10 AM -- Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited announced today the release of F&P SleepStyle™, a CPAP device used in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). SleepStyle will be available in New Zealand and Australia in June, and in other countries on receipt of the relevant regulatory clearances.

Personally, I would consider one the more well-known and time-tested major brands: ResMed's AirSense or Respironics' Dreamstation before selecting any new product. My issue is why purchase a "me too" machine unless it has some special feature that makes it more attractive than the standards. I would not consider minor variations in pricing because when the upcharge is as amortized over 60-months (5-year service life), the cost is almost negligible,

If you do not have insurance, see if you can rent one to try for a month or two before purchasing your own machine.

IF THE MACHINE IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH #SLEEPYHEAD OR OTHER MONITORING SOFTWARE THAT LET'S YOU CONTROL YOUR OWN THERAPY, I WOULDN'T EVEN CONSIDER IT. Since the machine is an improvement on the F&P ICON, it might work with Sleepyhead -- try before you buy.

Best of luck with your therapy.

Check with some of the vendors on the list above and ask for their impressions. See if anyone is reviewing the machine on YouTube.

[DeepBreathing]

Agree with what you said about the benefits of going with a Resmed or Philips machine, but F&P are hardly a "me too" company. They were founded in 1934 and started producing medical products (ventilators and humidifiers) in the 1960s.

[Damian]

Thanks for the replys. What is attracting me to this machine is the SensAwake feature. I'm waking up around 4am with full pressure. By the time I turn the machine off and on, I'm fully awake. It also has 40% less moving parts compared to the Icon. I sleep with my mouth open and always wake with a dry mouth, I'm thinking F&P could alleviate this better than ResMed.
I would like to buy ResMed (being Aussie). I have not looked into the features of the ResMed 10 but could the setting be adjusted to help the problems I'm having?

Thanks 
Damian

[srlevine1]

Agree with what you said about the benefits of going with a Resmed or Philips machine, but F&P are hardly a "me too" company. They were founded in 1934 and started producing medical products  (ventilators and humidifiers) in the 1960s.

You may have misunderstood or perhaps I did not make myself clear. I was not referring to the company, I was referring to the device. And, in my world of technology, a me-too device is one that is developed to compete with other products but does not offer a clear advantage. Hence, "we too have a similar device" although it may be a "distinction without a difference." 

Consider the more significant areas of interest:

therapeutic value as per algorithmic responses to changing conditions;
the output data interfacing that allows you to monitor your own therapy;
the convenience of use and form factor;
the menu design and understandability;
the comfort features such as humidification, exhalation pressure relief, anti-rainout temperature control; 
the ease of maintenance; and of course, 
longevity.

Rank your most important features and make your selection. But, from my perspective, all things being relatively equal, I would go with the manufacturer and machine with the best performance record over the largest user base.

[Spy Car]

I guess a big part of the equation for some who are prone to waking up and not being able to get back to sleep due to higher pressures, is whether the "SensAwake" feature (which ramps down pressure when it determines a user is awake) is a major advantage (or not) assuming it works as advertised.

I'd also want to be certain any machine was Sleepyhead compatible and that a user could access the clinical setting.

Innovation is good. But it would be a challenge to get me off of a ResMed machine.

Bill

[trish6hundred]

Hi Damian,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck on your machine decision and also with starting your CPAP journey.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.

[ICEMAN]

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare  must be pretty big have seen discussed on some business news re the Sleep Apnea products, but to me I wouldn't use Fisher & Paykel, for  me feel they  virtually made a monopoly machine recorded Data via F&P USB info card and thus prevent,  individuals  self-monitoring  your own health progress and unable to utilize Sleepyhead.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has taken medical device company ResMed to court in the US, claiming infringement of its patents and seeking damages from its rival.
Some of ResMed’s products including some CPAP devices and accessories used to treat patients with sleep apnea, and some masks — infringe on its patents, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

[srlevine1]

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare  must be pretty big have seen discussed on some business news re the Sleep Apnea products, but to me I wouldn't use Fisher & Paykel, for  me feel they  virtually made a monopoly machine recorded Data via F&P USB info card and thus prevent,  individuals  self-monitoring  your own health progress and unable to utilize Sleepyhead.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has taken medical device company ResMed to court in the US, claiming infringement of its patents and seeking damages from its rival.
Some of ResMed’s products including some CPAP devices and accessories used to treat patients with sleep apnea, and some masks — infringe on its patents, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

The lawsuits appear to be the type of legal wrangling that goes on between companies all of the time... and usually results in a mutual agreement to cross-license some patents. A number of companies worldwide have acquired companies for their intellectual property -- the bigger the patent portfolio, the more likely some little detail can be found to infringe on something the opposition has developed. Of course, the real test is in court, then the appellate court if thing go wrong in the lower court.

Fisher & Paykel initiated the hostilities with an August 15 lawsuit in a California federal court, alleging that ResMed’s AirSense 10 and AirCurve 10 flow generators, ClimateLineAir heated air tubing and Swift mask line infringe 11 of its patents. The Auckland, N.Z.-based company moved to withdraw that suit the next day, but reserved the right to sue again, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for Central California.

Yesterday ResMed announced a responding barrage, with actions filed in another California federal court, plus Germany, New Zealand and the ITC. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern California alleges that Fisher & Paykel’s Simplus full face mask, Eson nasal mask and Eson 2 nasal mask infringe 4 of ResMed’s patents and asks the court to invalidate its Down Under rival’s patents, find that it’s not infringing, or both.

San Diego-based ResMed said it’s also seeking an injunction from the ITC banning Fisher & Paykel from importing the allegedly infringing devices and claimed a win in Germany. The Munich District Court there granted ResMed’s bid for a pair of preliminary injunctions stopping the sale of the Simplus, Eson and Eson 2 devices. In New Zealand the company seeks to halt the manufacture and exportation of the devices, ResMed said. Source:  (10/18/2016 - http://www.massdevice.com/legal-war-erup...a-patents/) 

 A German court has suspended ResMed’s intellectual property proceedings against Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, according to news reports. The court proceedings had been on hold while both companies waited for the outcome of a decision by the European Patent Office. ResMed filed patent infringement actions against F&P in U.S., German and New Zealand courts, as well as the U.S. International Trade Commission, in 2016. It claims F&P’s Simplus full-face mask, Eson nasal mask and Eson 2 nasal mask violate patented technology. F&P has also filed actions against ResMed, claiming its AirSense 10 and AirCurve10 range of flow generator products, its ClimateLineAir heated air tubing and its Swift LT and FX masks infringe patents. Source: (10/03/2018 - http://www.hmenews.com/also-noted/lawsui...her-paykel)

ResMed (NYSE: RMD), the world's leading tech-driven medical device company and innovator in sleep-disordered breathing and respiratory care, today announced that the Munich District Court decided that ResMed's AirSense 10, AirCurve 10, Lumis and their humidifiers do not infringe a Fisher & Paykel German utility model (a short-term patent), DE 20 2013 012 358 U1.

Although ResMed's products do not infringe, ResMed will continue its challenge of the validity of the German utility model before the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO). 

To date, no German court has found that ResMed's products infringe a Fisher & Paykel patent in any of the three cases brought by Fisher & Paykel against ResMed in Germany. By contrast, the same German court concluded in September that Fisher & Paykel's Simplus, Eson and Eson 2 masks infringe ResMed patents, while staying the proceedings pending the outcome of invalidation proceedings. ResMed is now defending its own patents in the European Patent Office. Source: (10/12/2017 - http://investors.resmed.com/investor-rel...fault.aspx) 

As you can see, everything moves slow and the results are mostly inconsequential to users with the exception that the legal costs and any subsequent fines or penalties and royalties are priced into the infringing product, the product line, or all of the company's products. This is a war of dueling press releases and court actions not likely to be resolved where any of the lawyers are still able to extract big bucks from the litigants.