Application-specific blower keeps snorers quiet

ebm-papst has supplied technologically advanced, application specific blowers for use in machines that help people suffering from the medical condition known as obstructive sleep apnoea.

ebm-papst has supplied technologically advanced, application specific blowers for use in machines that help people suffering from the medical condition known as obstructive sleep apnoea.

With the potential to reduce suffering for many millions of people, the CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machines stop people snoring, they reduce obstructive sleep and its side effects of tiredness, and can even save the lives of those who may stop breathing as a result of the condition.

Although ebm-papst has been supplying CPAP blowers for a number of years, the earlier generation of machines delivered a constant airflow/pressure and were not able to change speed to compensate for the patient inhaling and exhaling.

The problem was not designing control electronics for the blower - which is relatively easy - it was designing a motor that had the responsiveness to change speed quickly against instructions from the controller.

Enter ebm-papst with its long experience of designing application specific fans, blowers and motors.

ebm-papst's Bi-Level CPAP blower is able to change speed dependant on the requirement of the patient.

Thus, as the patient exhales, the blower runs at a slower speed to enable him/her to do so more easily.

To achieve this very specific and important mode of operation, ebm-papst completely redesigned the motor.

Firstly, the company changed the motor design from an external rotor motor (ERM) to an internal rotor motor (IRM).

Although IRM is not a new technology, ebm-papst designed the motor with an innovative slotless armature with low iron content.

This provided a low mass design with a resultant lower inertia rotor that enables the blower speed to be changed rapidly to respond to the breathing cycle of the patient.

Another benefit of the slotless armature design is that it is much easier and faster to produce which reduces production costs by up to 30%.

The simple construction also means that ebm-papst can produce a blower that is 45% smaller in volume than previous CPAP blowers which in turn helps customers produce smaller pieces of equipment.

This is particularly important as the equipment is designed to be portable, and in use is positioned next to the patients' bed.

The Bi-Level CPAP blower from ebm-papst has greater functionality in a smaller size and at a lower cost enabling its customers to develop more effective solutions for apnoea applications.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a chronic, progressive syndrome that affects an estimated 4% of adult men and 2% of all adult women.

Sleeping problems and sleep disorders are amongst the most common problems that humans suffer from.

The British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association has published the following startling facts: 15 million people are snoring in the UK, 10.5 million are men and 4.5 million are women.

30 million people are affected by snoring.

58% of snoring people are aged 50-59 years.

Everyone knows someone who snores.

It is therefore not surprising that thousands are looking for treatment or solutions to stop snoring.

The Greek word "apnoia" literally means "without breath".

There are three types of apnoea: obstructive, central, and mixed.

Of the three, obstructive is the most common.

Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnoea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep - sometimes hundreds of times during the night, and often for a minute or longer.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep.

In central sleep apnoea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe.

Mixed apnoea - as the name implies - is a combination of the two.

With each apnoea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnoea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

Sleep apnoea is very common - as much so as adult diabetes.

The risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty.

However sleep apnoea can strike anyone at any age, even children.

Yet because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority of sufferers remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant - sometimes even fatal -consequences.

Untreated, sleep apnoea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches.

Moreover, untreated sleep apnoea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes.

Fortunately, sleep apnoea can be diagnosed and treated.

Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.

CPAP and BiPAP (bilevel positive air pressure) have also been used much of this century and the newer machines are descendants of the IPPB machines that were used from the 1940s to the 1960s.

The current machines are designed to deliver a positive pressure of between 4 and 25cm H2O.

The patient is attached to the machine by either a nasal or a full-face mask.

In its simplest form, CPAP delivers a continuous positive air pressure, most frequently at about 10cm of water.

This is delivered throughout the respiratory cycle and has been described as being similar to breathing with your head protruding from a moving car.

BiPAP delivers CPAP but also senses when an inspiratory effort is being made and delivers a higher pressure during inspiration.

When flow stops, the pressure returns to the CPAP level.

This positive pressure wave during inspirations unloads the diaphragm decreasing the work of breathing.

This form of ventilation has been used for years in patients with chronic respiratory failure due to neuromuscular problems or chest wall abnormalities.

In patients with respiratory failure, a common technique is beginning with the expiratory level at 5cm H2O and the inspiratory level at 15cm H2O.

The levels are adjusted based on patient comfort, tidal volume achieved and blood gases.

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