OSCAR report terminology
Hi guys
Newbie here
Would like to understand the following terms in the OSCAR reports
1. Mask pressure vs pressure
2. Time At Pressure
3. Tidal Volume
4. Minute Vent
5. Insp time
6. Exp time
7. Flow limit
Thanks in advance and apologies if this sounds like a very basic Q
RE: OSCAR report terminology
I'm going to just deal with the first one.
Pressure is perhaps more aptly named Desired Pressure. Your profile says your Autoset will provide pressure in the range 6-14. The Pressure chart shows what it has decided is a desired pressure to give you at that moment, in response to various triggers it sees in your results. It is logged every 2 seconds.
Mask Pressure is pressure measured in the hose/machine/mask which are all the same pressure. It is logged 25 times a second and it shows how your breathing is affecting the Desired Pressure. If you expand the time scale of the chart, you will see how Pressure (and Flow Rate) change with every breath.
RE: OSCAR report terminology
2. Time At Pressure - The amount of time the machine was delivering air at a given pressure
3. Tidal Volume - How much air you are breathing in a single breath
4. Minute Vent - Respiration Rate x Tidal Volume = How much air you breath in a minute
5. Insp time - How long it takes to breathe in(single breath)
6. Exp time - How long it takes to breathe out(single breath)
7. Flow limit - A upper airway limitation in airflow that doesn't qualify as an Apnea or Hypopnea
RE: OSCAR report terminology
The pressure graph shows your current EPAP (exhalation pressure) and IPAP (inhalation pressure). Mask pressure shows you the details on how the pressure is fluctuating between EPAP and IPAP.
The pressure graph is good to look at for a full night to see how the machine adjusted its pressure. If you start looking at zoomed in flow data to look at individual breaths then you want to use mask pressure to see the finer detail.