Astral 100 and Astral 150 ventilators

If ventilator is on internal battery, not intended to serve as a primary power source, low/critically low battery alarms will sound, but a fault leads to sudden power loss. If power fails, then ventilation stops and a Total Power Failure (TPF) alarm should sound, but it's powered by a supercapacitor, which degrades over time, which may cause TPF alarm to sound for less than 2 minutes or not at all

On 9/13/23 Field Safety Notices were emailed to distributors, institutions, medical facilities. The notices states to immediately provide a copy of the notice and the patient/carer letter to all patients, carers, and relevant healthcare professionals. The notices states: Continue using your Astral ventilator, provided you continue to follow the instructions detailed in the Astral User Guide. -Connect the ventilator to mains power whenever possible. In the event of battery failure, connect to mains power immediately to resume ventilation. - Internal battery is not intended to serve as a primary power source. It should only be used when other sources are not available or briefly when necessary. -External power source should always be available for ventilator-dependent patients. -External power source should be in use in mobile situations, including when mains power is unavailable or disrupted. Do not rely solely on the internal battery for mobile use. - Ensure the external battery is sufficiently charged before using in mobile situations. - For ventilator-dependent patients, always have alternate ventilation equipment available, such as a back-up ventilator, manual resuscitator or similar device. - Ventilator-dependent patients should be continuously monitored by qualified personnel or adequately trained carers. Consistently follow the 2-year ventilator preventative maintenance schedule to help detect and replace circuit boards with degraded supercapacitors. A second phase will be communicated to customers. Follow the updated service process detailed in Tech Note 1063673; not sent to patients/carers. Complete/return the acknowledgment form: [email protected]. Questions - contact your local ResMed contact. On 3/18/24, a second Field Safety Notice was sent requesting that devices be returned to a Service Center as soon as possible, but no later than the end of March 2025 to receive software update R6.2 (SX544-0603).