Sleep studies aren’t anyone’s idea of a good time.
In the past, you had to go to a center or hospital with uncomfortable beds and a strange environment and get hooked up to wires and attachments. Good luck getting a normal night’s sleep.
More recently, in-home sleep studies have become the norm, a huge improvement from the dark days of in-facility sleep testing. You still have all the wires and attachments, but you get to sleep in your own bed.
While in-home sleep studies are a far cry from the in-office studies of yesteryear, I still found myself thinking, There’s got to be a better way.
I did a little research, hoping to find a convenient, disposable device that patients could use at home that would send sleep data directly to their doctor.
I discovered that’s exactly what the WatchPAT home sleep apnea test does.
Introducing the WatchPAT Sleep Study Device
The WatchPAT sleep study device (PAT stands for peripheral arterial tonometry) detects changes in your blood oxygen level through a pulse oximeter — a small device that fits over the top of your finger. It also records irregular patterns in your breathing through a sticky pad that’s placed on your chest. It sends this information to an app on your phone.
That’s it. No other wires or devices.
The WatchPAT home sleep apnea test only needs one night of data, and the device is disposable and recyclable, so you don’t have to ship equipment back to the company. When you wake up in the morning, you click a button that indicates you’re done sleeping, and the WatchPAT app sends the data to your physician in about five seconds.
Because the WatchPAT home sleep apnea test is so simple, you might assume it’s not as effective as the old-school tests. That’s not the case. Research shows that the WatchPAT sleep study device performs the primary goal of sleep studies — detecting sleep apnea — just as well as more complicated testing.
Sleep Apnea and the Importance of Sleep Studies
The Greek word “apnea” translates to “without breath or breathing.” Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person stops breathing, or where the flow of oxygen to their lungs is interrupted, while sleeping. As oxygen levels drop, the body startles or gasps awake, and the process repeats throughout the night.
This continuous cycle of sleep disruption and oxygen deprivation is linked to some very serious health consequences, such as high blood pressure and an increased risk of diabetes, atrial fibrillation, heart attack, and stroke. And of course, sleep apnea harms your quality of life by making you tired during the day.
Sleep apnea is especially dangerous because so many people don’t know they have it. Though treatment is relatively easy, you can’t treat what you don’t know you have.
With a WatchPAT sleep study device, you can quickly and easily find out if you have sleep apnea. WatchPAT lets you ask the question one day and get a diagnosis the next.
How We Use WatchPAT Data
There are all kinds of wearable health monitors on the market today, like Apple Watches and the Oura Ring. These are great for measuring certain day-to-day health markers. They can monitor factors like sleep quality and oxygen saturation over time, which can be very helpful, but what they can’t do is diagnose. That’s where a WatchPAT home sleep apnea test comes in.
The WatchPAT sleep study device isn’t for wearing every day. It’s a one-night tool to diagnose your sleep problem. The WatchPAT home sleep apnea test can also establish a baseline of sleep health before you embark on daily sleep monitoring with another wearable device.
Another function we’re finding the WatchPAT sleep study device helpful for is retesting for sleep apnea.
Sometimes patients have to requalify for sleep apnea treatment devices (such as continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, devices). Additionally, people can sometimes make lifestyle changes that improve or cure their sleep apnea. In those cases, retesting detects the change and lets you move on from your CPAP machine. The convenience of WatchPAT technology makes retesting much easier.
Are You a Good Candidate for a WatchPAT Sleep Study Device?
You don’t have to do anything special to qualify for a WatchPAT sleep study device. There’s no risk involved, and there’s no downside. Whether you have symptoms like excessive tiredness, snoring, or morning headaches, or you want to check that your CPAP machine is working, or you’re just curious about sleep apnea, we encourage you to ask about testing with WatchPAT!
