Sleep Test

What is Sleep Test or Polysomnography

Click here to book your sleep test

Sleep Study or Sleep Apnea Test, is an overnight sleep test to diagnose Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This Sleep test or Polysomnography monitors snonring episodes, apnea events, oxygen desaturation, heart rate, positional apnea events and breathing.This sleep study can be done at home and it is conducted at night. This can also be done at daytime if patient has a night shift work.

This test is performed to help diagnose sleep apnea, and it can also be used to help in your treatment plan if you’ve been diagnosed with a sleep apnea.

Why Sleep Test is Important

Home Sleep Apnea Test records your sleep patterns to diagnose when your sleep is disrupted and why.

There are many sleep apnea test devices. They monitor your apnea events and airflow, as well as oxygen desaturation and heart rate. It has been observed in the sleep tests that a patient may have several hundred sleep apnea events. Duration of longest event may range from few seconds to 3 minutes. Oxygen desaturation goes below 60 in many cases.

Any Danger in the test

This overnight Sleep study is a non-invasive, easy test. The device is small and patient can walk and go to bathroom with the device hooked up.

How you prepare

You are advised not to drink alcohol or coffee during the afternoon and evening before the test. Patient must not sleep in the afternoon. A bath or shower is recommended before your sleep study. In a home sleep apnea test, the device is delivered to you through a sleep technician who will hook up the device with your body and will guide you how to switch it off in the morning.

Room environment

The room where Sleep Study is done should be similar to a hotel room, and it’s dark and quiet during the test. Patient should be alone.

Returning the device or equipment

In the morning, patient will turn the device off as was guided by the sleep technician and will take the device to sleep centre where a qualified sleep technician will prepare a report. Patient will take that report to his or her doctor and doctor may then suggest to use CPAP or BiPAP machine depending on the severity of the report as per American Association of Sleep Medicine.

Titration

There are two ways a titration can be done. 1) During the same night after 3 to 4 hours of sleep test 2) On the next day in the sleep centre. During the titration it is checked on which air pressure patient is comfortable and his or her AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) is stable. That air pressure is noted by a qualified sleep technologist. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine is used for the titration.

If a patient is too bulky or overweight, bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP or bPAP) machines may be a more comfortable choice. Bipap device helps in inhaling as well as in exhaling.

Report

The parameters recorded during polysomnography provide a great data about your sleep patterns as follows.

• Heart Rate
• Blood oxygen desaturation
• Apnea events
• Positional Apnea events
• Snoring episodes
• Longest Apnea event
• Duration of lowest SpO2

Your physician will observe the information collected during your home sleep test.