What is EPR?
EPR™ (expiratory pressure relief) is an effective alternative to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. It features several options that enable you to reliably and predictably control patient therapy while delivering a higher level of patient comfort.
EPR is only available on our new S8™ devices.
How does EPR work?
When the patient exhales, the S8 device detects the beginning of exhalation and reduces motor speed to drop pressure.
The patient or clinician can choose one of three comfort levels to determine the degree by which pressure will drop.
Setting 1 = mild comfort (1 cm H20)
Setting 2 = medium comfort (2 cm H20)
Setting 3 = maximum comfort (3 cm H20)
Comfort with Control
EPR Ramp or full-time
EPR ramp enables clinicians to control a patient’s access to EPR, restricting its use during the ramp period only.
Patients experience the comfort of EPR during the early stages of sleep when they are alert and breathing against CPAP pressure is most difficult. When the Ramp period expires, pressure reverts to set CPAP. Likewise, EPR can also be set to run full-time, providing more comfort throughout the night.
Event Detection Circuit
The Event Detection Circuit is a backup feature of the EPR algorithm.
Changes in a patient's sleeping position or sleep stage (ie, REM sleep) may cause sudden, unpredictable events to occur without the typical preceding flow limitation or snoring. When such an event is detected, EPR immediately suspends, and the treatment pressure reverts to set CPAP. EPR remains suspended until the event concludes and normal breathing resumes.
EPR Timeout
If a patient's exhalation period exceeds 15 seconds, EPR immediately suspends. The treatment pressure reverts to set CPAP and remains suspended until the next inhalation phase is detected.
EPR helps patients experience the highest level of comfort and benefit from their therapy. EPR is available on ResMed S8 Elite™ and the S8 AutoSet Vantage™ devices.