Hack CPAP machines

Quest Board
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Related: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

This is important. We ought to list all the things that need to be done, can be done, and the why, so we can document for reference.

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I can think of a few different areas to hack.

Data

  • viewing data
  • visualizations for data
  • getting the data off the SD card
  • some way of parsing and storing the data
  • inventory of available open-source programs in the community

Consumable supplies

  • find another outlet to purchase them besides the company my doctors/insurance assigned me to
  • find out what the costs are and if it’s actually better to purchase refills with insurance
  • (pipe dream) DIY supplies (this could have a lot of problems, like having correct and medical-grade air filters actually seems kinda important lol)
    • i think i am even unwilling right now to purchase third-party or pirated or knockoff refills of things haha. just recording it here as an idea of something that is possible to hack, though.

Quality of life improvements

  • it is so goddamn dry when i wake up in the morning. i really hate it.
  • really simple things, like “put up a dedicated hook in the bathroom from which to hang the tube, mask, and humidifier chamber to dry every day”
  • find out if putting half a drop of essential oil is actually bad for you (i’ve done it sometimes, with a “breathe” blend i originally got for dabbing on a dusk mask for burning man LOL, but then read conflicting “never do this” and “this will help you” articles so i’ve stopped doing it out of fear that it’s bad for you for some reason)

compliance / hack yourself to comply

like, behavioral hacking.

  • what are tricks i can use to make myself use it?
  • i’ve tried: begging a sleeping partner to nag me into wearing it, having friends call me, having friends ask me for a selfie of me wearing it when i go to bed via SMS, digital journaling, physical journaling, an enormous calendar with literal gold stars like from first grade

the cellular modem

  • who makes the physical modem module?
  • who is it calling?
  • when?
  • what radio frequencies does it use?
  • what is it sending?

understand vendors/the ecosystem

  • i was prescribed mine from a specific vendor, sleepquest, which took my insurance
  • there exist other vendors. are they reputable?
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i never actually did an internet search before. there are many, many, many websites for vendors for cpap related shit.

here’s just one example chosen at random. this is the product page for the machine that i have, a philips dreamstation. DreamStation Auto BiPAP with Humidifier by Philips and it’s over $1199 there (more with a heated tube, which i have).

i guess it was like super state of the art in 2015, which makes sense, cuz i was prescribed it in 2016. one friend told me “my dad has one and it doesn’t look like this at all. his is way bigger. yours is like cute and sleek.”

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:rofl:

Every teenage boy’s nightmare feedback!

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i’ve seen facebook advertisements for machines that disinfect your phone and keys with UV light, but did not know this was also an area for the CPAP industry.

a machine that cleans your mask, hose, and tubing with ozone

a machine that cleans your mask and humidifier chamber (not hose) with UV light

i do not know how ozone or UV disinfect things besides skimming the descriptions for these products they’re trying to sell me. (apparently hospitals use ozone/oxygen (which still doesn’t tell me how stuff dies), and UV light breaks down bacteria DNA? i thought that was snake oil or something?)

i know i’m supposed to rinse everything with water every day and soak everything in soapy water every other day. (i don’t lol.) so like i get that websites selling cpap gear are going to push this hard at me to capitalize on my fear of microbes that i cannot see but it’s definitely working lol

edited to add: i asked lazyweb on fb and got the answer to please use caution with such sanitation devices; the ozone amount is ambiguous and unregulated.

Recently researching UV light disinfectants and came upon this from FDA specific to CPAP machines.

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/potential-risks-associated-use-ozone-and-ultraviolet-uv-light-products-cleaning-cpap-machines-and

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a start: an fb friend linked me:

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https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAP/

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