A Look at New Products - Medtrade Spring 2004

By Tracy Nasca - March 30, 2004

Always interested in the latest and greatest new products for the sleep disordered breathing patient, I was most excited to attend my first MedTrade event in March 04.

MedTrade is held twice each year for the Home Healthcare Industry. Over 450 exhibiting companies participated showing products and services from rehab to repiratory and everything in between. All of the Talk About Sleep OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sponsors participate in this event and so off I went.

I met with Fisher & Paykel team members, Steve Moore, Director of Marketing and Christian Kiely, Product Manager over breakfast to talk about what they were featuring at MedTrade. At this show, they were highlighting Ambient Tracking Plus, an improved version of Ambient Tracking technology. Ambient Tracking is a technology that eliminates or reduces the "rainout" in the tubing by automatically compensating for changes in room temperature.

Ambient Tracking Plus is a new feature that has been added to their CPAP line. Not only does it compensate for changes in room temperature, but it also will increase the level of humidification if leak develops. As you know, we patients with leaks receive excessive flow and the humidification we receive is minimized. Ambient Tracking Plus will not only monitor the environment, but the patient as well to provide optimal humidification. Christian also explained that the complications of rainout are the gurgling, showering, etc., there are real therapeutic problems that can develop. Studies have shown that as little as 20ml of water in the CPAP tube can cause significant pressure reductions and cause the CPAP to deliver far less than therapeutic pressures.

Steve Moore and Christian Kiely will be at the APSS show in Philadelphia in June with more exciting new product launches. Stay tuned for more exciting things from this great company! See the recent news release about FlexiFit™ Series HC407, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's newest nasal mask.

Then it was on to the trade show floor. It seemed the size of three or four football fields; most of the booths pertained to products unrelated to sleep disorders but interesting nonetheless.

First stop was the Respironics booth where I met up with Laurie Scott, their Interface Product Manager, and Terri Hansbury, who presented and custom fitted me for their new ComfortLite™. I was surprised to find I wore a size medium, as all previous masks I have worn over the past 15 years were small sizes.

One of the great features of ComfortLite™ packaging is its two choices of either small-medium and medium-large. It comes with the Direct Seal AND the Simple Cushion. It takes the guesswork out of determining what size to order.

The headgear was surprisingly light weight and stable. Laurie chuckled and said, "Comfort Light, Tracy, Comfort Light."

The adjustment features are user friendly - very simple and straight forward. To my surprise, the nasal interface - Direct Seal cushion is NOT inserted into the nostrils, but lays directly at the nares- therefore eliminating soreness that one might experience from insertion.

I used ComfortLite™ that night and slept 12 hours straight. Need I say more?

Also featured at the Respironics booth was the new RemStar™ Bipap Pro 2. Brian Bunofsy, Sleep Therapy Product Manager, demonstrated the revised version which features integrated heated humidification, LED display and a great new smaller lighter size.

Mark your calendar for April 26 (Monday) when Laurie Scott will join us for a moderated Special Events chat on ComfortLite.

My friends at ResMed were featuring the new VPAP III and, of course, the Activa. I was pleased to see my local Sales Rep, Brain Gunderson there and I asked him to comment on this wonderful new mask. He said, "Even the most active sleeper benefits from Activa."

Pleased to speak with Ron Richard, VP Marketing Americas, he commented,

"ResMed continues to direct our focus and resources towards the development of the high quality and innovative products in the area of sleep disordered breathing. We have had several positive comments most recently related to the new Activa nasal mask as well as the addition of our new VPAP III Bilevel line. Activa offers the patient and clinician an excellent option in nasal masks due to the intelligent leak sealing technology which has evolved from the highly successful Ultra Mirage mask. The patented dual wall design combined with an active seal has made the Activa the first choice for dealers and patients. For patients who are active sleepers and toss and turn in bed, the Activa offers a superior seal with minimal headgear tension."

He went on to say "the VPAP III Bilevel system is the final piece in our flow generator line. The new VPAP series uses all common parts based on the S7 and Spirit product line. Inventory management is thus simplified for the dealer and uses AutoScan software as well as the new ResLink module enabling the clinician to view pulse oximtery and minute ventilation integrated with the AHI and other data from the device."

I was very interested to hear about the new Breeze upgrades coming soon and met with Puritan Bennett Product Manager, Mei-Mei Stark for lunch. You will meet Mei-Mei soon at future moderated chats. She informed me that Puritan Bennett will soon introduce improvements to its already successful Breeze interface. The product improvements focus on improved durability, comfort, flexibility and convenience. In addition, Puritan Bennett is still seeing increasing demand for its new GoodKnight 420 CPAP line. The fact that the CPAP device is so small and lightweight really appeals to all patients. Puritan Bennett is dedicated to the Sleep business, and is continuing to invest in Research & Development in both Therapy and Diagnostics.

I stopped by the SleepNet booth to see the new features of MiniMe. SleepNet also makes Phantom and IQ masks.

I learned that MiniMe is actually a smaller version of their IQ mask. The MiniMe upgrade is their new headgear connection to accommodate the new headgear which is now available in a petite size and is a user friendly "cap" type headgear.

Talk About Sleep will attend MedTrade events in future months and keep you informed on the latest and greatest product launches for sleep disordered breathing.