What Can You Do With A Capnograph If One Is Available for Less Than $300? Is it Worth Spending On If It Can Give You Key Info on Metabolic Health?

yerrag

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For a long time I've been eyeing an affordable capnometer, but the price has been high and it just doesn't make sense buying something like an EMMA from Masimo for $1500. But just today, I was doing a search on a Philippine web app and came across a capnograph being sold for less than $300, and no less from a reputable manufacturer called Contec, which over the years has established a name as a reputable medical measurement device company. It gives good value for the quality and the reasonable price it offers for its oximeters, for example.

This item isn't available in Amazon, but it is available in China, and in the Philippines as well:



Compare the price to Masimo's EMMA:


And you will see how much cheaper Contec's CA10M product is.

I haven't really checked the specs yet, as I really don't know what I have to look for in this product that will meet my needs. That's why this thread is about that. I don't want to buy something, no matter how cheap it is, if I'm to find out later I really have no practical use for it.

Here is Masimo's product page for EMMA: Masimo - EMMA Capnograph

I've written Contec for product info as I can't find information on it on its website.
 

shine

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What are your needs?
Why do you want to buy it in the first place? You'll know how much CO2 you're breathing out, and then what?
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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What are your needs?
Why do you want to buy it in the first place? You'll know how much CO2 you're breathing out, and then what?
That's the question I also would like answered.

Say there's a reference value for CO2 breathed out.

What does it mean to be below, within, and above?

If CO2 exhaled is low, does it mean body wants to hold on to CO2 below it's low on it? Does it mean poor or inefficient sugar metabolism? If it's very low, does it mean too little CO2 produced because too much lactate is produced from glycolysis, or too much keto acids from fatty acid metabolism?

If CO2 exhaled is high, does it mean mean the ecf is acidic such that the lungs have to convert carbonic acid to CO2 for CO2 to be exhaled-to lower ecf acidity? Why is the ecf is acidic? What is causing the acidity?

Would people within range tend to be normal w/r to build - not obese or overweight? Mainly because they have good sugar metabolism? But what about those with normal CO2 exhalation volume thst are obese and overweight, if they do exist, what causes them to be obese?

Would people who are euthyroid have normal CO2 exhaled volume? Would this be a good way to test for hypothyroidism?
 

S-VV

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NICE FIND!!!!!

My EMMA capnometer broke and I was searching for an alternative that wasn't so expensive. When I have time to play with it again, ill buy it
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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I'm not in a great hurry to get one. I think sensors have a tendency to come down in price and devices that incorporate them are easily designed and made. A capnograph/meter is but one example.

The main challenge is regulatory. If not for medical lobbyists, we would already have a personal ECG that calculates our QTc, and we would know easily if we're hypothyroid or not.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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NICE FIND!!!!!

My EMMA capnometer broke and I was searching for an alternative that wasn't so expensive. When I have time to play with it again, ill buy it
Sorry to hear that. Did you use the EMMA much before it broke? I looked at the Amazon reviews of Masimo's products and they're not stellar.
 

S-VV

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Sorry to hear that. Did you use the EMMA much before it broke? I looked at the Amazon reviews of Masimo's products and they're not stellar.
For about 6 months. After that, it showed ridiculously high readings that made it unusable. While it lasted, it was pretty fun, especially if combined with a lactic acid testing strip (like the ones for diabetes)
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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For about 6 months. After that, it showed ridiculously high readings that made it unusable. While it lasted, it was pretty fun, especially if combined with a lactic acid testing strip (like the ones for diabetes)
I'm tempted to buy the Contec unit and play with it. I already have a CO2 bath (which I never got to try, keep pushing it off) and a carbogen machine, which I don't even need.

I'm in no hurry to buy it though, as I don't think I have the time yet to spend tinkering with it.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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For a long time I've been eyeing an affordable capnometer, but the price has been high and it just doesn't make sense buying something like an EMMA from Masimo for $1500. But just today, I was doing a search on a Philippine web app and came across a capnograph being sold for less than $300, and no less from a reputable manufacturer called Contec, which over the years has established a name as a reputable medical measurement device company. It gives good value for the quality and the reasonable price it offers for its oximeters, for example.

This item isn't available in Amazon, but it is available in China, and in the Philippines as well:



Compare the price to Masimo's EMMA:


And you will see how much cheaper Contec's CA10M product is.

I haven't really checked the specs yet, as I really don't know what I have to look for in this product that will meet my needs. That's why this thread is about that. I don't want to buy something, no matter how cheap it is, if I'm to find out later I really have no practical use for it.

Here is Masimo's product page for EMMA: Masimo - EMMA Capnograph

I've written Contec for product info as I can't find information on it on its website.
Here is the product info of the Contec unit:
 

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yerrag

yerrag

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Here is an article on using reading end-tidal capnography waveforms:


It would be a worthy addition to a personal diagnostics toolkit. But unless I get one and find the time to put it to good use, it would just be another ivory tower. It's like having a home gym and never using it. Or a home swimming pool and hardly going lapping in it.

But I can see its use together with an oximeter that measures heart rate, perfusion index, and oxygen saturation. It provides respiration rates and end tidal-wave CO2 information as well as the graph of CO2 being breathed out. I would be interested for one, to know what the values are when one is at peak metabolic efficiency at rest.

What is the value of the end-tidal wave CO2, the respiration rate, the spO2, the Pi, and the HR like?

What would these numbers look when someone is fasting at different stages - first day, 2nd day, 3rd day etc.

What would these values look like at different points in a 5 hr. oral glucose tolerance test? What happens when blood sugar drops to a hypoglycemic level?

A lot of interesting information can be gleaned.
 
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I bought one. Had some issue. The Company emailed me and I resolved it. I just have to play with it.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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I bought one. Had some issue. The Company emailed me and I resolved it. I just have to play with it.
It's great and good of you to try it. Let us know how it goes.
 
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it's total junk. I'm returning it.

One problem is you can't read the gauge when you are using it. Just one of many problems. It is horrible. Unusable.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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it's total junk. I'm returning it.

One problem is you can't read the gauge when you are using it. Just one of many problems. It is horrible. Unusable.
Were you able to buy it in the US? Good thing you can return it.

I thought that you have a sort of breathing mask that is connected to the capnograph through a tube. Isn't how that is used?
 
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Were you able to buy it in the US? Good thing you can return it.

I thought that you have a sort of breathing mask that is connected to the capnograph through a tube. Isn't how that is used?

probably but they didn't include a breathing mask. It is a piece of junk so I'm not going to want it. They are happy to take it back apparently, sending me a return label. If not I can do a chargeback on the card, but they are being cooperative.
 
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yerrag

yerrag

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probably but they didn't include a breathing mask. It is a piece of junk so I'm not going to want it. They are happy to take it back apparently, sending me a return label. If not I can do a chargeback on the card, but they are being cooperative.
Too bad it didn't work. But thanks for testing it. I'm not surprised because it's their first product of this kind, and first models still have kinks to be ironed out.

And your bad review and returning it should make them improve the product.

I'll try them out after a year or two. It would be nice if Amazon can carry them, so that we'll be able to get some good reviews. Although I'm now very skeptical of relying on the Amazon review system now. It seems like Amazon has began to destroy its once stellar review system to generate more sales of products that won't last long. They've already made the search of products in their own sites and app generate many irrelevant results, hoping to make it into a supermarket experience where you have to look at many items before finding what you need. I guess that is what leads to more sales from impulse buyers.
 
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