Designing for the user

[Design for life]

Hi,

I am a product design student in the UK, looking into redesigning products relating to the life experience of living with sleep apnoea, and the emotions of day to day living with products such as CPAP.

I am positing to ask what sleep apnoea sufferer’s personal attitude and opinions are towards wearing CPAP masks, their comfort and the feelings they evoke? I’m also intrigued by your opinions on the functionality vs. design of the pump equipment.

Is there anything you personally would like to see in CPAP products which are not already on the market?

Regards

David

[bostonian]

One that actually moulds to the face, rather than having a rigid mask clamped on by straps that leave marks - one size doesn't fit all!

And -

one with a built in heated hose, been woken up with seeping moisture and sprayed with cold water isn't pleasant!

[mintra]

A no mask solution

That is a challenge, how can you do it without a mask?

Until you get that one right.

Air pre heater for air intake so that I don't have to heat the room.

Mask on alarm, (if you take the mask off for a rest (to belch out air etc) then you may fall asleep before putting it on again I use an egg timer set for 10 mins and set it if I wake up and take the mask off to tell me to put it on again.

Reliable sleep detection mechanism. If the machine knows you are asleep then it can start the ramp up, and stop if you are awake.

I have a reumed spirt 2, this has two motors so is better than a one motor job which winds up and down. However I really do not believe that they have got the apap anywhere near right, I use it on CPAP mode most of the time and find it more effective without the humidifier.

I was thinking that instead of a humidifier, something that squirts a haze of water into your mouth from the mask may be viable.

Cost reduction, these machines should cost 10 times less and not be on prescription.

Noise caused by air going down ribbed pipe is bad.

Soft mask so that I can roll on it, and it reforms after

Cant think of much more.

[leswaller]

A soft malleable mask that doesn't dig into the face or forehead is number one on my wish list

[Mr Stefan]

Changes

I go with mintra I think the comments summed up what all users would like to see in future CPAP models, sooner rather than later, please!!
Stefan

[pilewis]

I myself use nasal pillows and find that can be between sizes.. be nice to see something that say could mold to the users nostril shape as to ensure a tight seal with no leakage!!

[James @ Intus]

Great ideas! LEt me share what's already available as some of you may not be familiar with it all.

That is a challenge, how can you do it without a mask?

That exists but is way more expensive than CPAP, at least for the time being:

http://www.tni-medical.de/start.php?menuname=Patients&language=en&file=pat_sleepdisorders.html&path=Patients@Sleep%20disorders

Air pre heater for air intake so that I don't have to heat the room.

That's a very clever idea! Heated hoses kind of do that too but after the machine, not before it enters.

Mask on alarm, (if you take the mask off for a rest (to belch out air etc) then you may fall asleep before putting it on again I use an egg timer set for 10 mins and set it if I wake up and take the mask off to tell me to put it on again.

Modern machines have this. When the machine runs put the air throughput is too high, it knows you don't have the mask on (properly) and can sound an alarm.

Reliable sleep detection mechanism. If the machine knows you are asleep then it can start the ramp up, and stop if you are awake.

Fisher & Payel claim to have this with their SleepStyle 254 Auto-CPAP.

I have a reumed spirt 2, this has two motors so is better than a one motor job which winds up and down. However I really do not believe that they have got the apap anywhere near right, I use it on CPAP mode most of the time and find it more effective without the humidifier.

ResMed's APAPs have an algorithm which after a respiratory event, keeps the pressure high for a while, as a precautionary measure. A lot of people find this uncomfortable and either reduce the upper pressure or they switch to a Covidien / Puritan Bennett Sandman Auto, which has a "fast drop" mode where it doesn't linger unnecessarily long after an event.

I was thinking that instead of a humidifier, something that squirts a haze of water into your mouth from the mask may be viable.

Interesting concept, but many people also need humidification for nasal comfort. Your idea would require water storage, an extra tube potentially etc. so not sure how practical it ends up being. Humidification with tight temperature control can avoid condensation fully, like the Fisher & Paykel SleepStyle 604.

Cost reduction, these machines should cost 10 times less and not be on prescription.

Ask people in Ireland, they charge 4000 Euro for an old GoodKnight machine there. For once, the UK isn't the place where you get robbed, when it comes to CPAP. Granted, the US as always is slighty cheaper, but the UK is surprisingly competitive. You could of course buy a couple of these, these and these to offset the costs

Noise caused by air going down ribbed pipe is bad.

Special hoses are complete rib-free on the inside, reducing noise almost completely. Further reductions can be made with hose covers.

Soft mask so that I can roll on it, and it reforms after

Hans Rudolph and ZZZ-Masks are like this already, very neat feature indeed. Also have a look at the DreamWeaver (pending CE, here available in the UK hopefully this year).

Cant think of much more.

Let me try...

Data management like the SleepCube SmartCode. Just call up a code on the screen and type it in online to get your stats report. No sending back cards etc. SleepCube users love it.

Industry wide Data standards. Get all machines to collect data in the same format so it's much easier to track patient data, ideally with one piece of software.

Alarm clock bult in like the Apex XT-III. Removes the need for another item on the nightstand.

Support for 10 and 15ft hoses so the machine can be placed further away (reduces noise). SleepCube supports 10ft but no other machine has a special setting for it, to accommodate the loss of pressure.

Let's all agree on one set of filters so all machines can use the same filters. Really, what's the point of inventing your own square ones when the previous were round.

Mobile phone like fascias. Not everybody likes black, or white and blue. Personalisations brings the fun back. Same with hoses. Grey can be boring.

Ultimately, just build the air pump into the mask, battery powered.