Evolution. Growth. Change. It seems inevitable that we, as humans, grow and progress that technology do the same thing as well. That being said, technology has come pretty far considering where it first started. Take for example the CPAP machine. Colin Sullivan, the creator of the CPAP machine, started off testing on bull dogs. That testing eventually led to the first CPAP machine, which was large, clunky, and a little annoying to have around. With time, the machines have become smaller, lighter, and less noticeable than before, so let’s take a little walk down memory lane.
We are going to start the ResMed’s S6 machine. This machine is the basis for all the machines to come in the ResMed line. The first S6 machine was released for public use in June 2000. The S6 machine came in a few different versions: the Lightweight, the Plus, the Elite, and the Auto. Of course with this being one of the earlier models, we can expect that it will be on the bigger and bulky side. From its pictures, it looks as though the S6 machine is about the same size of a laptop, but bulkier – kind of like a desktop computer (but not quite that large!). Cleaning the machine is quite similar to what you would have to do today – wipe your mask down daily, clean your tubing and filters weekly – you know the drill. The machine had three different ways to start: the start button, the delay timer (what we now know as the ‘ramp’ setting. With this machine, patients had the option to choose the ramp settings), or smart start (only on the elite version). The most notable distinction for the S6 machine would be that the CPAP, BiPAP, and versions were made differently – they each had their own design, their own set of filters, and their own humidifiers. Sounds to me like someone had a little too much time on their hands to come up with numerous designs for one machine…
Moving along to the next machine up the revolutionary ladder – ResMed’s S7 machine. ResMed stepped up their game with this machine, as they created the same design for all different versions. The CPAP, BiPAP, Auto, etc., all looked alike and used the same filters and humidifiers. Talk about a time and money saver, huh? The first S7 machine was available for public use in November 2002. The design of the S7 is a unique one – I am not sure how to describe it for you… Alone the machine could be described as a square; with the humidifier attached, I would describe the machine as house shaped? I don’t think that’s accurate either – it is small parallelogram sitting atop a square. Now while the S7 is oddly shaped, I don’t think it beats back the weird shaping of the S6. It does appear to be bulkier than the S6 widthwise, but many patients who have used to the S7 say that they really enjoyed using this machine. Without the humidifier, it is smaller than it predecessor as it is just a small square. Users have reported that the S7 is one of the quieter machines that they have used.
One hop, jump, and a skip ahead, and we find ourselves in April 2005 when ResMed’s S8 machine was released. The S8 released as two versions around the same time, the first was the S8 Escape and the next was the S8 Elite. The different between the two is simple: the Escape is your basic machine – you program it at a certain pressure, and that’s it – the Elite is the advanced machine – it kept records of when you stopped breathing through the night and when and how often you had apneas. The shape of the machine is similar to that of the S7 machine. The machine by itself, no humidifier, is a square, but slightly smaller than the S7. With the humidifier, the S8 is still smaller than its ancestor; this is because of the shape of the humidifier. Rather than a parallelogram attached to the top of the machine, we have a triangular oval shape. Again, I am no expert in geometry so my descriptions of the shapes on these machines could be entirely off. A great feature of the S8 is that a reminder can be set by the clinician to keep track of important dates. For example, a message will pop on the screen saying that is time to change your mask or filter, or perhaps your machine needs service. That comes in handy with life constantly keeping us on our toes.
There are a few more machines to add to the evolutionary list, but I will create a different post for those as I do not want to make this any longer than it already is. So what are you thoughts so far?
For more information on the machines mentioned in this post, please see:
S6: http://www.web.medtecshop.com/Files/Equipments/User1_620.pdf
S7: https://www.resmed.com/in/dam/documents/products/machine/s7-series/user-guide/308191_s7-lightweight_user-guide_row_eng.pdf
S8: https://www.resmed.com/uk/dam/documents/products/machine/s8-series/user-guide/338425_s8-elite-ii_user-guide_row_eng.pdf
https://www.resmed.com/us/dam/documents/articles/resmed-origins.pdf
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