Question about MIP and MEP

[Lscott71]

Luanne, what kind of BiPAP do you have, that is set at 8/4? What's your PALS' height and weight?

It’s a Philips Respironics

 

[lgelb]

Model number? There are many variants of Respironics. It should be on the back of the machine, bag, instruction manual, or the "about" menu in settings.

 

[Lscott71]

Says it’s a Dreamstation S/T

 

[lgelb]

That is not the best kind of machine for a PALS, because it does not have "volume control" -- it cannot change pressure to keep the same amount of air coming into the machine regardless of a person's breathing changing from deeper to shallower.

So I'd ask for a machine that has volume control -- if a Respironics, it has the "AVAPS" feature [there is a DreamStation version that does] and if a ResMed that feature is called "iVAPS." If you want to go straight to a machine with an internal battery, that will ultimately hang off his wheelchair when you go out, what you need is an Astral or a Trilogy.

Meanwhile, I would try increasing the IPAP (the number that is currently at 8) one step at a time, e.g. go up to 9, see how that works, etc. But first, you want to make sure the machine is in S/T mode with a rate of 8 and a Ti of 1.3, with a rise time of 3 (this can be adjusted up or down for comfort). Let me know if you need help adjusting the settings.

 

[Lscott71]

That is not the best kind of machine for a PALS, because it does not have "volume control" -- it cannot change pressure to keep the same amount of air coming into the machine regardless of a person's breathing changing from deeper to shallower.

So I'd ask for a machine that has volume control -- if a Respironics, it has the "AVAPS" feature [there is a DreamStation version that does] and if a ResMed that feature is called "iVAPS." If you want to go straight to a machine with an internal battery, that will ultimately hang off his wheelchair when you go out, what you need is an Astral or a Trilogy.

Meanwhile, I would try increasing the IPAP (the number that is currently at 8) one step at a time, e.g. go up to 9, see how that works, etc. But first, you want to make sure the machine is in S/T mode with a rate of 8 and a Ti of 1.3, with a rise time of 3 (this can be adjusted up or down for comfort). Let me know if you need help adjusting the settings.

Thank you so much!