Where Deep Breath sits next to the tools you already know

Most teams we talk to already have a Hamilton USB stick, a Better Care quote, a note about Syncron-E, or a Python script someone wrote last year. Those can be the right call. This page is the difference, from the point of view of a research group that needs the files and the labels.

Last reviewed 18 August 2026

Data collection PVI analysis FAQ

Side by side

Four tools we are asked about

We are describing the research workflow — getting waveforms off the devices, looking at them, and exporting something you can analyse. Bedside decision support is a different product, and ours is not MDR or FDA cleared.

Hamilton

Hamilton Memory Box

Memory Box stores recordings from Hamilton ventilators. That is useful if the unit is all Hamilton. The files are not a ready CSV — someone still has to decode them — and they do not cover a mixed fleet.

With Deep Breath: BreathBox talks to Hamilton and to other manufacturers. You export waveform-level CSV as soon as the recording is done. No decode step.

Better Care

Better Care is a dedicated asynchrony platform. It does the job, and it is a heavier install: more infrastructure, more cost, and a longer path to first data.

With Deep Breath: a BreathBox at the bedside, typically ten minutes to an hour to stand up, and a web-based research application for review and export. Lighter, faster to deploy, and cheaper to get running for a study team.

Syncron-E

Syncron-E is a clinical aid for one asynchrony — ineffective efforts (failed triggering) — on ventilator waveforms you have already recorded. It has FDA marketing authorization for that narrow use. It is not a research collection stack, and it does not process the rest of the PVI taxonomy.

With Deep Breath: the same box that records the waveforms also runs them through analysis for several asynchrony types. Collection and processing sit in one place. See PVI analysis.

DIY

A custom Python pipeline

A serial dump, a WFDB folder, and a notebook is free in licence cost and infinitely flexible. It is also where studies stall: clock drift, missing samples, mode changes, device-specific quirks.

With Deep Breath: the recording path is built around those edge cases. You also get software to visualise, label, and analyse the same data — so the team is not maintaining a parser when they should be reading breaths.

In short

What each tool is for

If you need…	A common option	Deep Breath
Waveforms off a Hamilton, as a CSV you can open today	Hamilton Memory Box (decode the files; Hamilton only)	Vendor-independent CSV, no decode step
An asynchrony platform without a long install	Better Care (heavier, more expensive)	Lighter box + web research software, faster to deploy
Collection and processing, not only one asynchrony label	Syncron-E (ineffective efforts on recordings you already have)	Records the stream and labels several PVI types
A stable path instead of maintaining a parser	Custom Python / WFDB pipeline	Handles the edge cases; visualisation and analysis included

This is our view of the research workflow. Competitors change. Deep Breath collection and retrospective analysis are a Class I medical device. Real-time clinical decision support is a separate product and is not MDR or FDA cleared. More detail: collection, PVI analysis, FAQ.