CPAP Mask Machine

CPAP Machines, CPAP Mask, Nasal CPAP, CPAP Equipment Information and Buying Guides

CPAP Machines

PAP machine is designed to treat patients who suffer from sleep apnea which can cause death because of stop breathing during sleep at night. The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.” In sleep apnea, arousal from sleep happens because patient’s airway becomes restricted as the result of the patent’s muscles relax naturally during sleep.

Hence, the PAP machine comes to the rescue for this phenomenon. What PAP machine does is delivering a stream of compressed air via a face mask and hose, splinting the airway (keeping it open under air pressure) so that unobstructed breathing becomes possible, reducing and/or preventing apneas and hypopneas.

The PAP machine blows air at a prescribed pressure (also called the titrated pressure). The necessary pressure is usually determined by a physician after review of a study supervised by a sleep technician during an overnight study in a sleep laboratory. The titrated pressure is the pressure of air at which most (if not all) apneas and hypopneas have been prevented, and it is usually measured in centimetres of water (cm/H2O). A typical PAP machine can deliver pressures between 4 and 20 cm; more specialized units can deliver pressures up to 25 or 30 cm.

PAP treatment is highly effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea. However, results might vary for different patients and some patients might have only partial improvement results. Some of patients said their quality of sleep improve significantly after the use of PAP machine for single night.

News and Education Information about CPAP Machines, CPAP Masks, and Sleep Disorder

Types of PAP (Positive Airway Pressure) Machines

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  • CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine provides one constant airway pressure to the patient so that the patient can breathe smoother.
  • APAP also known as AutoPAP (Automatic Positive Airway Pressure) machine has a built-in feature that automatically adjusts or tunes the amount of pressure delivered to the patient to the minimum required to maintain an unobstructed airway on a breath-by-breath basis by measuring the resistance in the patient’s breathing. Because of that, patient will get the precise required pressure at different moment of sleep without compromising to a fixed pressure like what CPAP machine does.
  • VPAP or BiPAP (Variable/Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) machine provides two levels of pressure to the patient which are for inhalation (IPAP) and during exhalation (EPAP) in lower pressure.
  • xPAP ST (Spontaneous Time) machine is a machine that forces a number of set breaths per minute. The xPAP ST machine is used to treat patients with central apneas.

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What is CPAP (Continous Positive Airway Pressure) ?

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CPAP (Continous Positive Airway Pressure), pronouced “SEE-PAP”, is a medical method of respiratory ventilation used specifically in the treatment of sleep apnea, which can cause death if without properly treated when it is first developed. The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.”

PAP ventilation is also commonly used for critically ill patients in hospital with respiratory failure, and in the newborn infant (neonate). In these patients, PAP ventilation can prevent the need for endotracheal intubation, or allow earlier extubation.

How CPAP Machine Works ?

CPAP is delivered to the person by a mask that fits on the face and covers the nose or the nose and mouth as shown in the picture above.

The compressed air flows into the airway and acts as a splint or a support to hold back the tongue and open the soft tissue that was obstructing the throat.

Beause of the help of CPAP machine, the patient’s breathing become more regular, snoring stops, and restful sleep is restored. Besides that, the patient might gain more energy because of having better sleep at night.

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