POWERbreathe Medic Plus Inspiratory Muscle Training (IMT)

The Powerbreathe Medic Plus IMT is the inspiratory muscle training device of choice for those with very weak diaphragms and severe respiratory problems.   The breathing trainer gently increases your breathing strength in a safe, scientifically proven way.  The device creates resistance on your in-breath, causing your muscles to work harder.   Over time, you will build up strength and stamina and breathing will become easier.  This can ease the symptoms of COPD and asthma and help with rehabilitation.

Features and Benefits

• Drug-free with no side effects or drug interactions
• Mechanically adjustable variable breathing load range (9 – 78cmH2O)
• Especially helpful for COPD, heart failure & asthma
• Improves breathing strength and stamina
• Recommended by medical professionals
• Train for 30 breaths per day, twice per day for best results

Strengthen your diaphragm – Respiratory muscle weakness is inherent in various patient groups and a major contributor to the perception of difficult or laboured breathing (dyspnoea). However, when the inspiratory muscles are ‘overloaded’ regularly using the Medic Plus, they adapt and become stronger and more resistant to fatigue. Activating stronger inspiratory muscles requires less effort during a given task, reducing dyspnoea (shortness of breath). This has been shown to improve exercise tolerance and quality of life, particularly in patients with COPD.

Breathing training with the POWERbreathe Medic Plus focuses on strengthening your diaphragm rather than your lungs. This is because your lungs are a pair of spongy, air-filled organs, and not muscle, and therefore cannot be strengthened.

Recommended by medical professionals – The Medic Plus is used by medical professionals as an adjunct to pharmacological treatments. It can be used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with pulmonary rehabilitation, with or without supervision, and can be easily used straight out of the box.

Entry-level breathing training – The POWERbreathe Medic Plus offers the lowest and lightest starting ‘load’ (weight) of all our devices (except for the K-Series), at 9cmH2O (or 1 cmH₂O without the internal spring).

This ‘load’ training is similar to weightlifting, and the POWERbreathe Plus Medic device provides the lightest level of resistance setting (weight lifted) in increments – from 9cmH2O (or 1cmH₂O without the internal spring) to 78cmH2O.

Ergonomic design:  The POWERbreathe Plus is the second generation of mechanical breathing trainers and features the following design improvements:

• Optimized airflow performance to make training more effective
• Fully integrated, easily adjustable resistance mechanism
• Easy to read resistance level indicator
• Soft, comfortable mouthpiece

See results after 4-6 weeks – Consistently follow the training regime of 30 breaths, twice a day to feel less breathless during exertion in 4-6 weeks. This is scientifically proven. Learn more about how the POWERbreathe IMT device works in our guide.

Benefits to Patients

These benefits were the findings of trials and research in which the original POWERbreathe Medic was the intervention used.

• Increase in quality of life
• Reduction in drug intake by up to 75%
• Non-invasive treatment
• Drug-free with no side effects or drug interactions
• The first non pharmacological treatment for respiratory disease
• Clinically proven by a wealth of research
• Continuous research leads a program of development and new products
• Reduces perception of effort and increases blood flow to locomotor muscles thereby enabling increased activity or exercise
• Training adjunct for Pulmonary Rehab
• Can be used straight out of the box

What’s In The Box?

The following items come as standard with every POWERbreathe Medic Plus purchase:

• POWERbreathe Medic Plus IMT device
• Mouthpiece
• Nose clip
• Storage pouch
• 4 x Cleansing Tablets – except for in the USA. Genuine POWERbreathe devices will not contain POWERbreathe Cleansing Tablets in the USA, as these tablets are not approved for sale and/or distribution within the USA by the regulatory authorities. Read more about Counterfeit products.
• French/English User Manual.

Choosing the Right POWERbreathe Plus For You!

Research has demonstrated that the most effective way to train your respiratory muscles is to exercise at 60-80% of your Maximum Inspiratory Pressure.  This is effectively, the maximum amount of “weight” your diaphragm can “lift.”  Clinically, we like to start with a lower load than 60% to ensure we get the proper technique (50% on average) – using a high load right off the bat can sometimes mean you inadvertently train your neck/chest muscles (lifting the ribcage) instead of the diaphragm (expanding the ribcage).

Use the chart below to determine what your predicted maximum inspiratory pressure is, then half that value.  This gives you a general idea of the level you would start at.  The values below are for normal healthy individuals, so if you have any respiratory issues, you will most likely start at an even lower number and work your way up.

As an example if you are a 55 year old male, the average maximum Inspiratory pressure load would be 108 cmH₂O.  Dividing this in half would be a good place to start your training, which would be 54 cmH₂O.  Based on this number, you would set the dial to between 6 and 7 on the POWERbreathe Medic Plus IMT.  If you have any respiratory issues, your maximum is likely to be lower, so lets say you start at 36 cmH₂O.  Based on this, you would set the dial to level 4.

If you are healthy and are quite active you may have a higher level to start with and require the use of the Light, Medium or Heavy PowerBreathe Medic Plus.

Load Settings for the POWERbreathe Medic Plus IMT

Note: A load of 3 cmH₂O can be achieved by removing the spring and replacing the valve assembly for training (see page 10 & 11, diagram 1 – 5). In addition, a load of 1 cm H20 can be achieved when the complete valve assembly is removed and the POWERbreathe breathing indicator ball is installed (see page 10 & 11, diagram 6). All values are at a flow rate of 1 litre a Second, consistent with other POWERbreathe models.

Precise load settings may vary marginally due to: (1) the analogue nature of the calibrated spring tensioner and the precision with which the load is selected; (2) a small effect of inspiratory flow rate upon spring compression such that high inspiratory flow rates lead to greater spring compression, and a small increase in load (Caine & McConnell, 2000).

This effect is common to all spring loaded devices, and its size is magnified by increasing spring range (it is larger in a spring with a maximum range of 90cmH2O compared with one with half this range), it is also greater at lower absolute load settings (Caine & McConnell, 2000).

Caine MP & McConnell AK. (2000). Development and evaluation of a pressure threshold inspiratory muscle trainer for use in the context of sports performance. Journal of Sports Engineering 3, 149-159.

Documents

Download the PowerBreathe Medic Plus IMT Patient Information Leaflet

Download the POWERbreathe Medic Training Diary

Videos