2023 – The Ultimate O2ring Usage Guide

by welluehealth | Apr 7, 2023 | Respiratory, Reviews

1. What is the O2ring？
2. Who needs to use Wellue O2ring?
3. How does the Wellue O2ring work?
4. How O2ring can protect your health (True Reviews)

What is the O2 Ring？

O2Ringcould continuously track oxygen levels and heart rate as a smart home-use health monitor. Transmissive oximetry technology has medical-grade accuracy and is more accurate across all finger sizes.

With 4 groups of 10-hour data storage, it could work independently or together with Vihealth App. The battery could last 12-16 hours after one charge.

Wearing the O2 ring will automatically start to track your overnight blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, and body movement continuously. It will silently vibrate to remind you when detecting too low blood oxygen saturation or irregular heartbeats. Of course, you can customize the reminder.

The device is connected to the APP via Bluetooth, after you take it off, the data will be uploaded to your Vihealth APP automatically. You can also sync the data seamlessly to your PC software, and share detailed personal overnight oximetry reports with your sleep specialist. Your sleep report shows the statistics of oxygen levels and pulse rates, making it an excellent reference for the home sleep study.

Main Function of O2Ring

1. Continuously tracking oxygen levels and heart rate up to 16 hours.
2. Alarming for abnormalities by silent vibration.

3. Records of oxygen drops, average oxygen levels, and heart rate provide oxygen scores and trends over time.

4. Provides detailed sleep reports as PDF/SCV/Binary, easily print and share.

What makes O2 Ring stand out?

O2Ring is designed to provide accurate insights without disrupting your life. With precise sensors, O2ring packs Blood Oxygen Level(Spo2), Pulse Rate, Body Motions, and sleep monitoring technology into a lightweight, soft-wearable ring.

1. Continuous monitoring

Most pulse oximeters in the market have the ability to do spot checks but couldn’t support continuous real-time monitoring.

O2Ring makes difference, with a built-in memory design, it could continuously take records every second and store up to 4 groups of 10-hour data.

The continuous data provides detailed insights into your health, and your historical data reveals how your body performs dynamically over certain periods of time.

Access to continuous data is critical for many patients with sleep or breathing problems, such as Sleep Apnea, COPD, or other chronic diseases.

Most pulse oximeters in the market have the ability to do spot checks but couldn’t support continuous real-time monitoring.

O2Ring makes difference, with a built-in memory design, it could continuously take records every second and store up to 4 groups of 10-hour data.

The continuous data provides detailed insights into your health, and your historical data reveals how your body performs dynamically over certain periods of time.

Access to continuous data is critical for many patients with sleep or breathing problems, such as Sleep Apnea, COPD, or other chronic diseases.

2. Accuracy Above All

When you visit your doctor, there’s a reason they measure your pulse from your finger and not the wrist—accuracy. Your finger is the ideal source for reliable, impactful data. We do have studies showing that reflectance oximetry (used in AW7) is not as accurate or stable as transmittance oximetry (used in fingertip pulse oximeters.) Read More. Using an intelligent SOC chip, combined with anti-interference filtering technology, O2Ring provides a more accurate SpO2 level and Pulse Rate measurement in real-time.

The reliability of O2Ring’s recording data has been approved by clinics and doctors.

3. Free & light, Easy to Wear and Use

Getting started with O2Ring is a simple process, its soft silicon-made belt provides excellent comfort and flexibility, wearing it like wearing nothing, ensuring your normal routine and sleep carries on uninterrupted.

Getting Started is Easy

1. Download ViHealth APP

Search and download Vihealth App (the newest version) from Google Play(Android) or App Store(iOS).

2. Wear O2Ring

The ring is elastic, inside circumference range is about 2.0~3.2 inches.

The thumb and index finger are preferred.

General rules:

1）Do not use the middle finger.

2）Avoid loose wearing

3. Connect O2Ring with Vihealth

Wellue APP

4. Take It off And Sync Data

O2Ring could work independently with built-in memory, you can just go to sleep or work, no need to work with a phone. It could save readings for 10 hours. When taking it off, your recordings are already in O2Ring. Then you can sync the data to your phone or PC (Click to download PC software) seamlessly and get your report easily.

5. Get Detailed Sleep reports

The sleep report shows 8 detailed data with oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and body motions, Average Sp02, Lowest O2, Oxygen Drops per hour, etc.

You can clearly understand your sleep data for all night at your fingertips. If there are any doubts about your sleep, just share this report with your doctor so as to help him know your situation quickly and make an accurate diagnosis, which saves time and money.

data analytics

How Does O2Ring Work?

1. Power on/off

Wear O2Ring, it will turn on automatically.

The device would turn off automatically in a moment after you take it off.

2. Typical steps.

START: Charge the battery, wear the device to power on.

STOP: Take off the device, the recording will be over after the countdown.

DATA SYNC: After the countdown, run App to sync data, or next time after you turn on the device, run App to sync.

3. Notice

Keep snug enough, loose wearing may cause inaccurate readings.
If the working time is less that 2 minutes, the data will not be saved.
Please avoid excessive motion.
Please avoid strong ambient light condition.

Who Will Be Benefit from the Wellue O2ring?

O2Ring is your personalized health tool—packing sleep insights, heart rate monitoring, activity tracking, and more into a single tool that gets to know your personal “normal” and provides tailored insights to help you answer key questions about your health.

Those who belong to these groups will be great benefits from O2Ring:

Some users have those common questions as follows. If you also encounter these questions, read the following:

Why does O2Ring silently vibrate? I hate being bothered during sleep.
Why should I use O2Ring because the CPAP machine already provides many parameters for sleep apnea?
Why choose O2Ring rather than a fingertip pulse oximeter?

For more FAQ, please click to read: https://getwellue.com/pages/faqs-o2ring

Question 1: Why does O2Ring vibrate?

When oxygen drops occur, the O2ring vibration is a reminder that it’s time to replenish your oxygen.

We have collected some feedback from O2Ring users. Let’s see what they said.

User I.

“I can now report that I have successfully used the O2 Ring to prompt me to turn onto my side, and over time, help train me to sleep on my side.”

User II.

“For me it essential because I go in sleep paralysis then it happens and I need external stimulation to help me to take a breath and wake up and depending what on monitor take medication or call my doctor 911 if needed and I can provide recordings of all events.”

User III.

“It effectively controls my sleep apnea. I set the O2alarm to wake me when O2 drops. I am able to half wake up, take a few quick breaths, and go back to sleep after turning over where I can breathe properly. As time goes on I am better and better at staying on my side or stomach and often sleep through the night with no alarms. Also as time goes on I “raise the bar” in settings so it takes less of an O2 drop to trigger an alarm.No one paid me to say this.”

User IV.

User V.

But of course, there are some users that don’t like to be bothered during sleep by its vibration. The vibrating reminder can be adjusted or shut off from the APP setting.

Question 2: Do I need to use O2ring with CPAP treatment?

For people with Sleep Apnea or COPD, PAP Machine is one of the ideal treatment options.

To Make the Therapy Even More Effective

It’s really helpful to use this gadget right after the therapy begins. With the additional information, the user may understand his/her improvement more clearly, or know the need of adjusting the treatment.

User VI.

Your CPAP can work fine and you can still drop to hypoxic levels in your sleep. this can be used to determine if you should talk with your pulmonologist about an oxygen concentrator.

User VII.

I was diagnosed moderate sleep apnea and they wanted me to use a CPAP. I wanted to explore every option and found this. Been wearing it good 2 months now and LOVE it! I’m actually finding the positions in which my oxygen goes down and trying to avoid those positions and retrain myself. This would even be good for non sleep monitoring.

User VIII.

Pairing this ring with the use of a cpap could be useful. Could indicate whether/not cpap should be adjusted, and could be another level of confirmation regarding interruptions while capa is in use.

User IX.

But if this keeps waking you up when your O2 level drops, are you getting restful sleep? This doesn’t correct the problem, just makes you aware you have one. You still need to use a Cpap machine.

User X.

User XI.

this ring was a great place to start with getting a referral. Just started CPAP. Went from over 60 or so events an hour to less than 1. Look at these pictures. One is wearing the ring before CPAP and the second is with CPAP. Just started a few days ago and I’m so glad I got help.

Question 3: Why choose O2Ring rather than fingertip pulse oximeter?

Fingertip pulse oximeters only have the ability to do spot checks, but O2Ring supports both continuous and spot checks. Continuous monitoring can provide detailed insight into your body index and trends. Years ago people have to go to the hospital to do continuous oxygen level monitoring. But during the epidemic, using O2Ring at home to monitor your oxygen levels is a better choice.

User XII.

User XIII.

How does the Wellue O2ring work?

SpO2 Reminder

A. SpO2 Reminder

a1. Turn it on and O2ring will vibrate.

a2. Turn it on and your phone/tablet will send an alert.

a3. Blood Oxygen Threshold, a safe zone that you can preset.

Step 4. Customize your reminder on the phone APP.

PR Reminder

B. PR Reminder

b1. Turn it on and O2ring device will vibrate.

b2. Turn it on and your phone/tablet will send an alert.

b3. Setting an alarm when the heart rate falls below a certain value.

b4. Setting an alarm when the heart rate is above a certain value.

C. Device Offline Reminder

Device Offline Reminder

– After the switch is turned on, if the device becomes offline on Dashboard, the phone will sound an alarm and vibrate immediately.

– Device Offline Reminder works only when you stay in Dashboard and keep the screen awake.

D. Vibration Intensity

Intensity

There are a total of five levels of vibration intensity, which can be set by your preference.

E. Screen Mode

Screen Mode

There are two modes: standard and always-on.

-In standard mode, the O2ring screen will light up only when you touch the screen.

– In constant light mode, the O2ring screen will always be on.

F. Screen Brightness

Screen Brightness

There are three modes to choose the brightness of the O2ring screen.

G. History

One of the most important reports is “History”.

After we have worn it for a period of time, we take the O2ring off and then the app automatically records the data while we are wearing it.

We can click on the report for a certain period of time and then view its details of it.

The following data are included in this report. (Analysis & trend graphs are automatically generated in the data table.)

1. Recording Time

2. <90% Time – How long has your blood oxygen been below 90%

3. Drops over 4% – How many times does your blood oxygen level drop over 4%

4. Drops per Hour – Average times of oxygen levels drop over 4% per hour

5. Average SpO2

6. Lowest SpO2

7. O2 Score – It combines your average O2, lowest O2, times of oxygen drops, and more. If your O2ring Score turns to yellow or red, please ask your doctor for advice.

8. Average PR – The average PR per minute.

Wellue PC software

You can export the data to your computer desktop in PDF format or export it as CSV.

Wellue PC software PDF

How O2ring can protect your health

Story 1. How O2ring helps with sleep health.

I have been using this for about 6+ months now. Love it! So helpful for monitoring at night and during in-home infusions. It helps to wake up if O2 or HR goes out of normal levels, it vibrates.

And for me it is essential because I go into sleep paralysis then it happens and I need external stimulation to help me take a breath and wake up. Depending on what is on the monitor, take medication or call my doctor 911 if required and I can provide recordings of all events.

To me, it’s absolutely essential!

One thing is I wish it would have the ability to send recordings in a different format, so the doctor would be able open in detail all 10-12 hours of recording by himself, right now if I want to send detailed information second by second changes it has to be enlarged in that event and it will save it PDF file.

As well it would be wonderful and very helpful to provide not only overall O2 and HR information but show the highest in lowest numbers, especially in HR as well as O2.

It’s all operated by app, so hopefully, if the company will make this little addition to the app it would be even much better and more helpful!

I absolutely recommend it to anyone who has any problems with the heart or lungs and needs monitoring, it’s easy, light, it’s comfortable.

It is very simple to set up, it transfers data by itself automatically. Definitely, the best monitor overall I had in the past!

Story 2. How O2ring helps pilots.

Here’s the thing when it comes to flying with it.

Number one is that being a ring instead of a fingertip sensor, it doesn’t get in the way of pushing buttons, flipping switches, manipulating touchscreens, or “flying with two fingers” like you’re supposed to.

What I found is that I wasn’t wearing my fingertip one but instead putting it on every 20-30 minutes at fuel tank switch time to check my O2 level.

But as I found out on a recent trip back from TX at 15,500 and on O2, my tank had run out between checks and I had gone from 94% 20 minutes prior to 77%! It was only then I realized my tank was empty, and immediately descended 4,000’.

With the O2 ring, you can set an alert level (at say…88% or 90% for example) and if it detects that level, the ring vibrates to warn you.

Since you’re wearing it the whole time, the time between 02 drops and notification is virtually instantaneous, allowing you precious extra minutes to get back down—especially if you’re up in the flight levels.

The bottom line is I’m very happy with it so far. The secondary bonus for me is the recording for sleep analysis. Good product.

12-Lead ECG Machine Online Buyer’s Guide for Medical Professionals

by welluehealth | Apr 4, 2023 | MED PROS

As a clinician or cardiac physician, choosing the right 12-lead ECG machine can be a challenging task with so many options available online. A high-quality ECG machine is essential for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular conditions. We did a summary of 12-lead ECG machine buyer’s guide for medical professionals, and hope you can make an informed decision when selecting a 12-lead ECG machine online.

1. Identify Your Needs Before Making Any Purchase

It is important to consider your clinic or practice’s requirements. Determine the number of patients you see and the type of cardiac care provided as these factors will impact the necessary features of your ECG machine. Consider whether you need a portable machine, one that can easily connect to your existing software or one with a user-friendly interface.

2. Research Reputable Online Providers After Identifying Your Needs

Begin your research for reputable online providers that offer a variety of ECG machines to choose from. Look for websites like Wellue that specialize in medical equipment and browse through their selection of 12-lead ECG machines. Read reviews and compare brands and models to determine which one fits your requirements best, such as Biocare ECG machine.

3. Determine Necessary Features When Choosing An ECG Machine

Determine which features are necessary for your practice, such as portability, connectivity, user interface, and software integrations that you need as a clinician or cardiac physician. For instance, if you plan to use the device during hospital rounds, a portable ECG machine would be ideal. If you already have an electronic health record system, an ECG machine with software integrations may be beneficial. Consider also the user interface, as an easy-to-use machine can save time and reduce errors.

4. Consider Budgets and Compare Costs

Once you have determined which ECG machines meet your needs and possess the necessary features, compare the cost of each. It is important to stay within budget while ensuring that the machine meets all of your requirements. Keep in mind that a lower price point may mean fewer features or lower quality.

5. Read Reviews and Ask for Recommendations

Read reviews by other clinicians who have purchased and used the ECG machine(s) you are considering. This can help provide insight and give you an idea of what to expect. Additionally, ask for recommendations from colleagues within your network. They may be able to offer valuable information and advice to help make your decision easier.

6. Support and Training

It is crucial to ensure that the provider offers support and training for the ECG machine. Any manufacturer or supplier should be able to provide the necessary training and support to ensure the machine works efficiently. Check for customer service availability in case of any technical issues.

7. Warranty and After-Sales Service

Finally, check whether the ECG machine comes with a warranty and after-sales service. Ensure that the manufacturer offers customer support to assist with any necessary repairs or replacements.

In conclusion, choosing the right 12-lead ECG machine requires careful consideration and research. Identify your practice’s requirements, research reputable online providers, determine the necessary features, compare costs, read reviews and recommendations, check for support and training, and evaluate warranty and after-sales service. Armed with this guide, you can confidently choose the best ECG machine for your clinic or practice, providing accurate diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular conditions.

Check 12-Lead ECG Machine from Wellue Store

Biocare iE300 3-Channel ECG Machine with Printer

Biocare iE12A 12-Channel ECG Machine with Printer

12-Lead ECG Machine Fits into Your Pocket

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Wellue O2Ring Case Study from Dr. Frederico Ribeiro

by welluehealth | Mar 13, 2023 | Respiratory

A 75-year-old male patient with Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Coronary Artery Disease and overweight. He has complaints of Snoring, non-restorative sleep, daytime sleepiness and 2 episodes of lacunar stroke, confirmed with Magnetic Resonance Image.

Initially, while waiting for the polysomnography examination, we decided to monitored the patient’s sleep using the Wellue O2 Ring, a continuous blood oxygenation and heart rate monitor.

Figure 1. Sleep report, generated by the O2 Ring Wellue application, showing 7 hours and 52 minutes of monitoring, 15 oxygen drops in more than 4%, higher oxygen level at 98%, lower at 88% and an average of 94%, getting 1 minute and 24 seconds of oxygen levels below 90%, giving an O2 Score of 8.4. Little heart rate variability, since the patient is on beta-blocker medication.

Figure 2 – Sleep report, generated by the O2 Ring Wellue application, showing 8 hours and 28 minutes of monitoring, 28 oxygen drops in more than 4%, higher oxygen level at 98%, lower at 88% and average of 92%,, getting 26 minutes and 56 seconds with oxygen levels below 90%, giving an O2 Score of 8.3. Little heart rate variability, since the patient is on beta-blocker medication.

Figure 3 – Performed Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, which showed increased blood pressure loads during sleep, in addition to inversion of nocturnal descent, i.e., blood pressure was higher during sleep. Together with the clinical data with the monitoring of Oxygen and Blood Pressure, we have as diagnostic hypothesis, Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.

Figures 4 and 5 – Show Polysomnography that confirms the Diagnosis of Moderate Sleep
Apnea, associated with important hemoglobin desaturation with a maximum oxygen
level of 94%, minimum of 77% and an average of 91%, keeping 17% of the time monitored
with oxygen levels below 90%.

Conclusion:

1- THE PROBLEM

Sleep Apnea is the most common type of sleep disorder, affecting about 23.4% of women and 49.7% of men in the general population. American Association of Sleep Medicine guidelines recommend the diagnosis of Sleep Apnea in patients with single-night sleep study with polysomnography in adult patients with suspected disease.

Polysomnography is a technique that makes the graphic recording of multiple physiological variables over sleep time.

Polysomnographic examinations are usually done in specialized laboratories, as the exams are monitored at all times by a trained technician.

Polysomnography, and home sleep apnea test devices provide the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI), both values that present the number of respiratory events per hour used to diagnose sleep apnea and disease severity.

Diagnosing disease with a single test requires high precision of the test method, as well as a stable disease to reduce false-negative and false-positive test results.

However, there is strong evidence of high nocturnal variability of respiratory events in patients with sleep apnea, leading to misdiagnoses and classifications resulting from one-night sleep tests. Undiagnosed and untreated sleep apnea is associated with daytime sleepiness, decreased quality of life, increased risk of accidents, hypertension, cardiovascular events, particularly stroke.

2- THE STUDY

An observational study conducted in the Department of Pulmonology of the University Hospital of Zurich submitted 108 patients with suspected sleep apnea to 14 nights of nocturnal oximetry at home and 1 night of hospital respiratory polysomnography, with the objective of analyzing the variability of clinically relevant nocturnal respiratory events in these patients.

It was found that compared to the results of hospital polysomnography, 1/5 ofthe patients would have been misdiagnosed compared to the test using the pulseoximeter, with a variability of about 3% in the oxygen denaturation index. About 31patients would be misdiagnosed as to the severity of the disease on the first night of theexamination, and by the end of the 13 nights, 83 patients would have been incorrectlyclassified with severe sleep apnea.

The first night of sleep has already demonstrated high sensitivity and specificityof the analyses using the pulse oximeter. Increasing further on a second night of testing.

3- FINDINGS

About 71% of patients would have been diagnosed with sleep apnea on the firstnight, increasing to 88% with an additional night of study, this demonstrates theimportance of performing monitoring for more than 1 night.

Looking at the raw data, it becomes obvious that some of the patients who hadnegative results for sleep apnea during monitoring on the first night, but actuallyshowed positive results during sleep monitoring in hospital polysomnography.

Patients who presented negative results on hospital polysomnography showedvery low oxygen desaturation index values so not even the variability of theseveral-night examination led to a diagnosis of moderate sleep apnea.

Although theaddition of a second night of study significantly increased sensitivity, the negativepredictive value of a recording night was already high. However, it remains debatablewhether a single study showing negative results is sufficient to exclude moderate sleepapnea.

Although the American Association of Sleep Medicine still indicates a single-nightsleep test for patients with suspected sleep apnea, there is an increased risk of false-positive tests. However, the study contradicts showing high specificity, therefore lowfalse-positive rates on several nights of sleep.

Another counterargument againstmultiple night tests is the growing discomfort of this approach, because not all patientsmay be willing to perform repeated night tests in a hospital environment. Alreadyrepeating several nights of examination at home seems reasonable for most patientswith suspected sleep apnea.

In addition to the high cost for the health system to repeatthe examination in a hospital environment, it results in the direct or indirect costs ofuntreated sleep apnea. Studies show that sleep apnea when diagnosed and treated has a positive impact on the economy.

Therefore, as an alternative to expensive and technically complex polysomnography, patients with high probability and lack of relevant comorbidity can be evaluated through portable home sleep apnea tests such as pulse oximetry.

This study revealed considerable nocturnal variability of respiratory events, leading to an identification of a relevant number of patients with sleep apnea who would have been diagnosed or would have the severity of the disease misclassified with the sleep examination performed in a single night.

Especially, patients with lower respiratory event rates were at higher risk of the high variability of respiratory events overnight. Several study nights significantly increased the accuracy of the diagnosis for moderate sleep apnea.

Dr. Frederico de Morais Ribeiro

Cardiologist

Medical Registration 9944 Goiás

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blog.getwellue.com

What is IPF? What causes IPF?

by welluehealth | Oct 18, 2022 | Respiratory

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a lung condition that scars your lungs and makes it difficult for you to breathe. It’s the most common type of pulmonary fibrosis.

What does IPF stand for?

• idiopathic = there is no known cause

• pulmonary = it affects your lungs

• fibrosis = the name of the scar tissue in your lungs

IPF is a progressive condition. This means it gets gradually worse over time. The scar tissue in the lungs cannot be repaired by the body or any drugs, and there is currently no treatment that stops or reverses the scarring.

Current treatment focuses on slowing the rate of scarring in the lungs and controlling symptoms. Some people respond well to treatment and find their symptoms remain the same for many years. For others, the symptoms get worse more quickly.

It’s difficult to predict how quickly IPF will develop because it varies a lot from person to person. There are no clear stages of IPF, though some people may talk about the mild, moderate, or severe disease. Everyone is different – talk to your specialist doctor about your own situation.

How does IPF affect breathing?

Scar tissue causes the lungs to become stiffer and to lose their elasticity. This stops them from working properly: they’re less able to inflate and transfer oxygen from the air you breathe into your body.

Each time you breathe in, you take in air through your nose and mouth, down through your throat, and into your windpipe (trachea). Your windpipe splits into two main tubes, the right and left bronchi, which supply your lungs with air.

The main bronchi divide into gradually smaller airways called bronchioles. Bronchioles have many small air sacs (alveoli) at their ends. Inside the air sacs, oxygen moves across paper-thin walls to tiny blood vessels and into your blood. The air sacs also exchange waste gas (carbon dioxide) from your blood ready for you to breathe it out.

If you have IPF, scarring affects the air sacs, eventually limiting the amount of oxygen that gets into the blood. With less oxygen in the blood, you can get breathless from everyday activities like walking.

What causes IPF?

Idiopathic means the cause is not known, but researchers now believe that the body creates fibrosis (scarring) in response to an injury to the lung.

The initial injury to the lungs might be from:

acid reflux from the stomach

viruses – in some studies, IPF has been linked to certain viruses, including herpes, hepatitis C and the Epstein Barr virus, which causes glandular fever

environmental factors – breathing in certain kinds of dust from wood, metal, textiles or stone, or from cattle or farming

cigarette smoke exposure.

It is not known if these factors directly cause IPF.

Some people may also get IPF if it’s in their family history. But this link is only found in a minority of cases. According to a 2021 survey by the British Thoracic Society, 5.7% of patients were found to have a known relative with IPF.

Who gets IPF?

IPF is more common in people over the age of 40. It is also more common in men than it is in women.

Symptoms of IPF

The first symptom you might notice is getting out of breath when you’re doing everyday activities like walking up the stairs.

The main symptoms of IPF are:

breathlessness

a cough that doesn’t go away

feeling tired all the time

clubbing of the fingertips or toenails.

If you have IPF you may feel short of breath a lot, and not just when you’re moving about. If you feel breathless you should visit your GP.

A cough that doesn’t go away (usually a dry cough ) and feeling tired are other symptoms of IPF.

You may also notice clubbing of your fingertips or toenails. This means the shape of your fingers or toes might appear like a drumstick, with the tips being larger around the nails. The base of the nails may also feel spongy. Having this doesn’t mean you have IPF as it can occur in other conditions too. But check with your GP if you notice it developing.

How is IPF diagnosed?

A team of several experts (called a multi-disciplinary team), often at specialist hospitals, will collect information about you before making a diagnosis. This is because there are many types of pulmonary fibrosis.

IPF is one of many different types of pulmonary fibrosis. This means diagnosing IPF will involve a lot of tests to rule out the other types of pulmonary fibrosis. Your doctor is likely to listen to your chest and ask about your family, medication, work, and medical history. You may also have blood tests to rule out other causes of your symptoms.

If you have IPF, doctors listening to your chest can often hear crackles in your lungs that sound like Velcro opening.

You may need tests such as:

a CT scan to produce a detailed image of your lungs

breathing tests, such as spirometry, to measure how well your lungs are working

a bronchoscopy to see inside the lung and get samples of the lung tissue – this is done using a small tube with a camera

a lung biopsy, where tissue or cells are taken from the lung for testing.

IPF sometimes shows up as a honeycomb pattern on the lungs in a CT scan. The image shows lots of empty pockets or bubbles appearing where more solid-looking tissue would normally appear.

Being diagnosed with IPF might feel overwhelming at first. It can help to talk to your family and friends about it. You may want to read our information about looking after your mental health too.

Treating and managing IPF

Treatment for IPF aims to slow the rate of scarring in the lung and treat the symptoms.

Medication to slow the scarring

The importance of self-care

You should be treated at a specialist clinic, or by a team that comes to your local hospital. You should have regular appointments every 3-6 months.

Lung transplant

If the IPF gets worse in spite of treatment, a few people might have the option of having a lung transplant. Your specialist team should discuss lung transplant with you within six months of your diagnosis if it’s suitable.

Supportive treatment

Treating the symptoms rather than the cause of a disease is called best supportive care. Your doctors may discuss pulmonary rehabilitation to help with your symptoms of breathlessness and oxygen therapy to help maintain oxygen levels to other organs.

Your doctors may also discuss palliative care – this is a plan to help you through any stage of a life-limiting illness and focuses on improving symptoms of the condition.

Coughing

Your doctor will look for and treat problems that could be making your coughing worse, such as heartburn (acid reflux) or a blocked nose. Your doctor may also be able to refer you to a physiotherapist who can suggest ways to manage your coughs, such as sipping water or swallowing.

Severe coughing can often be suppressed with low doses of liquid morphine. It is usually given by syringe into the mouth and works quite quickly. There are potential side effects of morphine, so your doctor will discuss these with you before you decide if you want to take it.

If you find it difficult to cough up mucus, you may be prescribed medicine such as to help loosen and thin mucus in the lungs. Some people find it helps their cough, but others may experience side effects such as stomach discomfort, trapped wind, or feeling sick.

Breathlessness

To help you cope when you get out of breath, pulmonary rehabilitation is an important treatment and you’ll learn breathing techniques so that you feel more in control.

IPF can cause the level of oxygen in your blood to fall. This can make you feel more breathless. If this happens, you may be prescribed home oxygen treatment to allow you to be more active.

For more severe symptoms of breathlessness, which can sometimes make you very anxious, your doctor might recommend low doses of a short-acting medication such as lorazepam which can help take away sensations of severe breathlessness and panic. These tablets dissolve under your tongue.

Monitor the effectiveness of your therapy

Wellue-O2Ring-review — Wellue O2Ring Blood Oxygen Monitor

Acid reflux

Tell your doctor if you have symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux, such as heartburn, indigestion, or a sour taste at the back of your mouth. There’s evidence this may make IPF worse and make a cough worse. You can have treatments that reduce the amount of acid your stomach makes, such as omeprazole. Liquid antacids such as Gaviscon can also be helpful in preventing reflux at night.

Sometimes acid reflux is caused by a Hiatus Hernia, and this can be more common in those with IPF.

Anxiety

You might feel anxious or even depressed when living with a long-term, progressive condition. Talking about your concerns with your medical team, friends and family can be helpful. But some people may also need medication or other therapies to help improve their mood. Don’t be afraid to ask if you or your family member needs help to improve their mental well-being.

The importance of self-care

It’s important to look after yourself to stay as well as possible if you have IPF.

If you smoke, the best thing you can do for your health is to quit.

Exercise as often as you can to stay fit. This can also help to improve your mood.

Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet.

Try to get enough sleep

Try to keep away from people who are ill with coughs or colds.

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Why You Need Pulse Oximeter With CPAP Therapy

by welluehealth | Sep 6, 2022 | Respiratory

When you were diagnosed with sleep apnea, you had your sleep study. As you know, they kept track of your blood oxygen level, but they also measured many other values: pulse, blood pressure, number of apneic episodes per minute, amount of REM sleep, etc. The purpose of the CPAP machine is to overcome the obstruction caused by your airways and allow you to keep breathing at a regular rate throughout the night.

Since CPAP therapy should directly affect your oxygen intake, you need a way to monitor your blood oxygen levels. Here’s why you should pair your machine with an oxygen monitor.

What is a Fingertip Pulse Oximeter?

Firstly, let’s describe a pulse oximeter and how it functions. A pulse oximeter, most often worn on the fingertip, is a medical device that measures oxygen saturation levels in a person’s blood. In other words, it measures the amount of oxygen present in the bloodstream. It is typically for people who have the potential for unstable blood oxygen levels like those that are already in intensive care units and emergency rooms. The finger pulse oximeter uses red and infrared light to measure the oxygenation in the fingertips.

How is this possible? Because Hemoglobin (the part of the blood that transports oxygen) absorbs different amounts of light depending upon how much oxygen it is transporting.

Why is Blood Oxygen Level Important?

Low blood oxygen levels are harmful for many reasons. But let us consider how blood oxygen relates to sleep apnea and CPAP therapy. Low oxygen levels certainly may indicate a serious health problem. People with sleep apnea or an underlying lung disease such as asthma or COPD, sometimes have blood oxygen that drops to unhealthy or even fatal levels. When people suffer from sleep apnea, their airways close and oxygen does not flow to the brain and bloodstream. Oxygen levels then fall, triggering the brain to arouse the body. Although this happens subconsciously, the body continually awakens negating the positive benefits of deep and restful sleep. This vicious cycle is the typical symptom of sleep apnea. A pulse oximeter can read oxygen levels to help to confirm a diagnosis of sleep apnea.

Using a Pulse Oximeter with CPAP

Once you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are using your CPAP/APAP/BPAP machine, it is important to confirm you are receiving the full benefits of the therapy. Of course, the reason behind using a PAP machine is to maintain the integrity of your airways in order to breathe normally and deliver oxygen to the bloodstream.

A pulse oximeter can supplement any software available with your PAP machine by measuring this important gauge of the effectiveness of your treatment. Simply attach the pulse oximeter to your fingertip and let it record your blood oxygen levels. There are, of course, nuances that need to be users need to understand when reading the results such as how much time you spend at certain low levels. But overall, it will give you a barometer for keeping CPAP therapy as is or speaking to your doctor about optimizing.

Many CPAP users are interested in using pulse oximeters as part of their ongoing CPAP therapy.

How to choose the best oximeter to help with PAP treatment?

Data from a pulse oximeter can be used to check two important pieces of information – heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation percentage. In sleep apnea patients, the heart rate generally increases and the blood oxygen saturation level generally decreases during apnea events. A pulse oximeter with recording capability worn during sleep can help a CPAP user know if their CPAP therapy is effective. Unfortunately, even the most advanced CPAP machines do not record this type of information.

Here we’re going to summarize the features you should look for in a pulse oximeter, so you can make an even more informed purchasing decision.

Long-Term Recording vs. Spot Checking

This is the biggest difference you’ll find in pulse oximeters. A recording pulse oximeter allows the user to wear the device for hours at a time, and then look at the recorded data later. If you have sleep apnea and if you want to see what’s going on at night when you sleep, then you’ll need to select a model that has recording capability. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a device for periodic spot checking only, then either type of oximeter would be suitable.

Alarms

The pulse oximeters with recording capability have built-in alarms that allow the user to set thresholds at which the alarms will sound. In addition, these devices also have a low battery alarm. Alarms can be useful in many activities to let you know that you’ve exceeded your desired heart rate, or that your blood oxygen level has fallen below a pre-determined level.

Comfort Wearing

Almost all fingertip oximeters will feel pretty much the same when applied to a finger. The clamp-like alligator clip design is ubiquitous. Many people need to switch fingers after a couple of hours. A more comfortable option is the wearable Pulse Oximeter. They are usually designed in a ring or wrist-wearing shape to fit the user’s fingers and wrist. Not easy to slip during night-wearing, in addition, the silicone material also ensures long-term comfort.

Perfusion Index

The perfusion index is a relative value that indicates the strength of the pulse at the sensor site. The perfusion index is commonly used to help identify appropriate sensor application sites. This means that you can use the perfusion index to determine where you’re getting a good reading. You can move the oximeter from one finger to another to see if there is a difference in the perfusion index. It’s a good idea to place the oximeter where the perfusion index is highest. The perfusion index can also help to identify any anomalous readings during recording. If you see data that looks inaccurate it could be due to temporary incorrect positioning of the sensor on the finger. A low perfusion index value corresponding to the “bad” or “artifact” data can help you determine the true nature of the data.

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What Our Customers Are Saying

Wearing one of the O2ing each night has kept me afib free for nearly three years now. I have central sleep apnea and would end up in atrial fibrillation every 2-3 months when I’d stop breathing while sleeping. This ring vibrates when my O2 level drops too low and that’s enough to get me to breathe again! And it’s helpful to look at the app on my phone each morning to see how I did the night before. CPAP machines are only marginally effective for central sleep apnea and there are no other treatment options, but this is the closest thing and has been very effective for me.
Excellent compliment to CPAP Machine. It does Not tell you when you STOPPED BREATHING, it will give you an accurate record of your Sp O2 oxygen/saturation ratio. The phrase stopped breathing is misleading. Some people have a lifelong breathing rate which includes a pause between breaths, whereby the Sp O2 drops off to a point that may be alarming to some. If you are fatigued throughout the day, it may be the result of lack of oxygen when sleeping, and sometimes during waking hours, leading to a more serious health risk. This is a wonderful piece of equipment which will assist you and your doctor to make an assessment of your health. The Vibration is felt when the oxygen saturation drops below a level that you preset. If you consciously take a few deep breaths the oxygen level comes up again, sometimes changing your sleeping position will help. With Covid lurking around every corner it is wise to know your SP O2 level. This light weight, compact, easy to use equipment is a great companion to a CPAP machine. I print out a hard copy of the previous nights sleep each morning, and can see when my SP O2 dipped below my preset level. I also use a Smart Watch which features SP O2 and Blood pressure at a glance at any time day or night. The Getwellvue Ring Finger Oximeter is the only monitoring device I have which will give me a minute by minute chart and graph of my SP O2. It is a very helpful piece of equipment.

I own two rings because I won’t go to sleep without it anymore. If I slide down down from the really neat foam wedge set that keeps me elevated and apnea starts, the ring vibrates to wake me up so I can re-adjust my position and get some O2 back into my body.
I love my ring! Having a constant reading allows me to adjust my oxygen as needed. It also alerts me when my cannula falls off while I’m sleeping. A vibration warning is so much better than waking up gasping for breath!

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