Trigger sensitivity can directly affect the user's home ventilator experience to some extent. If the trigger sensitivity is not adjusted optimally, it may make the user feel that it is hard to exhale.
It can also be described as the level of breathing effort required for the human body to be able to trigger the home ventilator to work. Different levels of triggering effort are different, if the sensitivity of the home ventilator is set to the lowest, the user will need a larger inhalation action to drive the machine to work; if it is set to the highest, then the user may just need to gently inhale to make the home ventilator work.
In contrast to flow triggering, ventilators have another type of trigger called pressure triggering. Pressure-triggered sensitivity initiates a mechanical or spontaneous ventilation process based on pressure changes in the airway.
Flow triggering is more sensitive than pressure triggering and is better synchronized with the patient. Currently popular ventilators mostly have both flow and pressure triggering methods, and 2cmH20 pressure sensitivity as a backup method for inspiratory triggering, i.e., the inspiratory process is initiated when the airway pressure decreases by 2cmH20, which ensures that the patient's respiratory triggering is sensitive and avoids false triggering.
Expanded Information
The importance of trigger sensitivity for home ventilators:
The home bi-level ventilator has two pressures, one inspiratory and one expiratory, which are switched between the two pressures, and how to make the user feel comfortable during the switching process is the key to the existence of this trigger sensitivity.
When the user inhales, the home ventilator senses the inspiratory airflow and begins to inhale, raising the inspiratory pressure. Similarly, when exhaling, the home ventilator senses the expiratory airflow and lowers the pressure to help the user exhale. So it is directly related to the synchronization between the user and the home ventilator.