| Patients who suffer from sleep apnea or other sleep related disorders have long been able to undergo polysomnography (PSG) in a clinical setting. However, in-laboratory PSG is resource intensive and not available in all communities. Therefore, home PSG is a viable option for evaluating patients with moderate or high clinical suspicion for sleep-disordered breathing. Home PSG can be achieved with the use of portable sleep study systems.
Three portable sleep study systems are Sleepscan Traveler from Bio-Logic Systems, Suzanne™ Portable Recording System from Puritan Bennett, and Stellate Harmonie S from Stellate Systems Inc.
The Sleepscan Traveler from Bio-Logic Systems provides diagnostic quality ambulatory recordings. Sleepscan Traveler uses the same powerful Sleepscan VISION analysis software as your in-lab studies. Additionally, Sleepscan Traveler studies take full advantage of many Sleepscan features, such as the VISION Patient Scheduler, the Report Generator, and the Patient Information Database. Also, the battery powered Sleepscan Traveler includes a built-in pulse oximeter, body position sensor, snore monitor, chest, abdominal and air flow transducers and electrode array for EEG, EMG and EOG. It also provides programmable impedance test, programmable start/stop and automatic calibration.
The fully portable Suzanne Portable Recording System from Puritan Bennett offers a unique modular plug-and-play custom configurations record from 10 to 35 channels of physiological data including built-in Nellcor® OxiMax™ oximetry in both attended or unattended sleep studies. The new Nellcor OxiMax technology and Highly Accelerated Lifetime Testing (HALT) is particularly valuable for patients with sleep disordered breathing as it can read through motion and poor perfusion situations.
The Suzanne system is compact, lightweight, and reliable. It includes a setup module for quick and easy signal preview prior to start-up, which does not require a computer. A state of the art optic link for computer interface is also available for attended studies. The rechargeable battery is good for up to 20 hours of recording. The system also offers two recording modes: Flash card with recorder for unattended studies, and Real time with computer via the 100’ fiber optic cable for attended studies. The SanDisk Flash Card is available in 32, 64, 128 Megabytes.
The Stellate Harmonie S from Stellate Systems Inc is also a modular, scalable, and portable system. The system offers event detectors and processing tools that save time. Validated processors automate event marking for respiratory events, desaturations, PLMs, EKG, rapid eye movements, and spindles. The systems also provides configurable sleep graphs for unlimited graphical display of your event distributions or properties. Amplifier configurations from 16 to 64 channels are available, as well as software-controlled calibration and impedance measurements.
The Stellate Harmonie S also provides robust report functionality. For example, you can insert your patient's digital picture into your report for convenient identification. You can also personalize reports with your logo using templates. The reports boast easy-to-read layouts with accurate, informative graphics, tables and charts. Clear, detailed reporting on sleep parameters and sleep stage percentages is key to any sleep study. All reports download into Microsoft Office™ documents. Also, HL7-standard compliance allows integration of reports to existing hospital archiving systems.
Portable sleep study systems offer a valuable alternative to in-laboratory treatments, especially in areas where in-laboratory facilities are sparse. With today’s technology patients who suffer from sleep-related disorders such as sleep apnea have several viable options available for treatment.
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