Fisher and Paykel Icon

[symmit]

So I bought another machine. Got an Icon Auto.

For those using anything else and finding the humidity lacking, get your hands on one of these...

I'll do a full review after a month or so, but three nights in and I'm finding it great so far.

[Sparticus]

What, No Photo?

Looks like the business

[symmit]

It is very neat! Certainly works well and the sensawake feature is clever, would be a great machine for those who have difficulty accepting therapy (it drops the pressure when you wake up)

[ElleCee]

That is the one I have from my sleep clinic. They lent me the auto as I was struggling to find the right pressure with a cpap and when I returned it I put in a note to say that I had the best 2 weeks sleep for years and I got a call back to say I could keep it! It has heated hose and everything, I am really happy with it.
I have not yet got to grips with all the features but just on the basic settings it is really good.

Is there any way of finding out what the maximum pressure you use is? Just that my average 90% is just 5. On cpap I would have to have it a lot higher all night to cover events where as this one I can have it lower and it goes as high as necessary.

It is a really good machine.
Lorraine

[symmit]

Hi Ellecee - it's a good machine.

The clinic can get that data from the memory stick that's in the side of the machine!

[symmit]

F&P Icon - full review

F&P Icon Auto Review.

I've had this machine a couple of weeks now, moving from a Hoffrichter Trend II (which is now my "portable" rig) which I've been using for a year.

Design and appearance:

The Icon is a nice machine to have next to the bed, it really does look like a large alarm clock rather than a piece of medical equipment. The blower and humidifier are integrated into one unit which has a very small footprint on your bedside cabinet Power supply is built in and the lead is not detachable so if you're travelling with it you'll need extensions and adaptors. The humidifier chamber is big and dishwasher safe. Access is through a twist on lid that can be quite stiff to open.

Operation:

Operation is through a twist and press menu system and is pretty easy to get used to if you can use an iPod. If all you need to do is turn it on and off then you never need to access the menus, just press for on, hold for ramp, press again for off. USer menus allow access to the humidifier settings and reports for the last night, 7 nights and 30 nights usage. Intially the rig had a very "chemical plastic" smell which took a few nights to go away, I guess from the hose.

Noise:

This machine is noisier than my Hoffrichter, exacerbated by the slightly resonant hose. Adding a hose cover has quietened it a lot, but it's definitely noisier at the same pressure. It's not obtrusive and I'll report back later as I'm going to put it on a rubber mat to isolate it from the cabinet and see if that helps.

Comfort:

The humidifier has 3 boost settings and 7 heat settings, and is very powerful. F&P have a reputation for the best humidifiers and I've no reason to doubt it. It certainly consumes a lot of water having about 50% more capacity than my old machine. The heated hose delivers warm air which is very pleasant and I've had no "rain out" condensation at all, despite some cold nights. There's no EPR or Flex modes however the machine detects when you awaken or arouse durng the night (sensawake) and lowers the pressure, when you wake up in the morning it's hard to tell it's running.

User info:

Full AHI and pressure reporting is available from the front panel which is great.

Detailed info:

The F&P software is hard to obtain and quite tricky to install but the convenience of being able to take the custom USB stick from the machine to your clinic (or your own PC if you have the software) is great. Reporting from the software is brilliant, showing graphs for the last 14 days for full therapy details and individual days also, and allowing the setting of the machine from the software.

Conclusions:
Great machine, probably about the most expensive on the market but if you like / need humidity and heat it's worth it. Seems popular with the NHS now too so a lot of lucky users out there gettng them. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as it's all things to all people whether they want fixed or auto, and the sensawake makes up for the lack of flex. The heat and humidity is brilliant.

[Tigers Fan]

Great post, Symmit - thanks for taking the time.

TF

[ElleCee]

Hi Symmit,

Thanks for the great info.
I just have one question about the pressures.
If the low is set at say 10 and 90% of the pressure through the night is 10, does it show you what the maximum pressure needed has gone up to?

The reason I ask is my clinic, before giving me my own Icon, said that the average pessure I was using is 5 but no mention of the higher pressures and I wondered if there is a way to tell what it goes up to (if indeed it does).
I hope that makes sense!

Thanks
Lorraine

[symmit]

Ellecee - you can read the max pressure from the graph but I don't recall finding it at all in the menus.

Have a look at the bottom picture in my post and you can see it is set at minimum 9hPa and it rises to 10 a few times during the night (it's now set at 11 and stays flat!)

[westozman]

I've been using F&P Icon Premo for about 15 months now. I'd recommend it to anyone, I got the software from the place I bought the machine. Both machine & software are user friendly & easy to use.

[rshd301]

F&P Icon Auto Review.

I've had this machine a couple of weeks now, moving from a Hoffrichter Trend II (which is now my "portable" rig) which I've been using for a year.

Design and appearance:

The Icon is a nice machine to have next to the bed, it really does look like a large alarm clock rather than a piece of medical equipment. The blower and humidifier are integrated into one unit which has a very small footprint on your bedside cabinet Power supply is built in and the lead is not detachable so if you're travelling with it you'll need extensions and adaptors. The humidifier chamber is big and dishwasher safe. Access is through a twist on lid that can be quite stiff to open.

Operation:

Operation is through a twist and press menu system and is pretty easy to get used to if you can use an iPod. If all you need to do is turn it on and off then you never need to access the menus, just press for on, hold for ramp, press again for off. USer menus allow access to the humidifier settings and reports for the last night, 7 nights and 30 nights usage. Intially the rig had a very "chemical plastic" smell which took a few nights to go away, I guess from the hose.

Noise:

This machine is noisier than my Hoffrichter, exacerbated by the slightly resonant hose. Adding a hose cover has quietened it a lot, but it's definitely noisier at the same pressure. It's not obtrusive and I'll report back later as I'm going to put it on a rubber mat to isolate it from the cabinet and see if that helps.

Comfort:

The humidifier has 3 boost settings and 7 heat settings, and is very powerful. F&P have a reputation for the best humidifiers and I've no reason to doubt it. It certainly consumes a lot of water having about 50% more capacity than my old machine. The heated hose delivers warm air which is very pleasant and I've had no "rain out" condensation at all, despite some cold nights. There's no EPR or Flex modes however the machine detects when you awaken or arouse durng the night (sensawake) and lowers the pressure, when you wake up in the morning it's hard to tell it's running.

User info:

Full AHI and pressure reporting is available from the front panel which is great.

Detailed info:

The F&P software is hard to obtain and quite tricky to install but the convenience of being able to take the custom USB stick from the machine to your clinic (or your own PC if you have the software) is great. Reporting from the software is brilliant, showing graphs for the last 14 days for full therapy details and individual days also, and allowing the setting of the machine from the software.

Conclusions:
Great machine, probably about the most expensive on the market but if you like / need humidity and heat it's worth it. Seems popular with the NHS now too so a lot of lucky users out there gettng them. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as it's all things to all people whether they want fixed or auto, and the sensawake makes up for the lack of flex. The heat and humidity is brilliant.

Symmit,
I too have got the Icon and just got the software installed. I've uploaded 10 days worth of data but I'm not getting the same graphs as you. All I'm seeing are the standard data graphs i.e. what the pressure is set at and what the humidity is set at, both of which I already know. I'm keen to see the data in respect to AHI, leakage etc etc.

Any suggestions? I have version InfoSmart Client v1.1

Thanks,

Neil