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The other day, NapZ opined in "Thoughts on the nature of sleep studies", viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68643&p=637373#p637112, that there ought to be a "better way to do sleep studies", overtime for a week or a month, with relatively simple equipment , perhaps not as accurate as a PSG; but in the long run, more precise.

I posted my agreement with NapZ and went on to say that I put together what I feel is a pretty good home sleep lab for about $600. Like most of us on the forum, I am eager to share any knowledge which may benefit others suffering disturbed sleep. Hence, this post with a little more info on my lab, all of which I purchased out of pocket.

The equipment: S8 Autoset II, $350 (used); Generic Smart Card Reader, $35; Zeo, $150 (0n sale); CMS50E Pulse Oximeter, $90; Webcam, $25; Infrared LED's and parts, $25; my laptop. Total equipment about $675.

The software: Windows 7, ResScan 3.14, OpenOffice3 software suite, and Nimisis time lapse video app ($10).

So far, I've got a little less than $700 invested. I bought my autoset out of pocket because my insurance had already paid for an S8 Elite CPAP and I won't be eligible for an upgrade for a year or so. Although I had worked hard to get my AI down with the CPAP through manual titration, it wasn't till I got the APAP that I got it consistently under 1. Problem is, I still suffer from non-restorative sleep. That's why I got the rest of the equipment. It allows an objective assessment of therapy, and uncovers trends which are more difficult to detect with the "I feel better/worse" subjective method of measurement.

To show what it can do, I've attached a "summary" report from 8/02. The report includes respiratory info, sleep stage info, blood ox levels, and sleep positions all time synched. The detail in this report is to about a 5 minute interval. I can go to 30 seconds fairly easily but without more sophisticated synching ability, it's hard to get more precision, but I find the 5 minute detail is perfectly adequate to determine over the course of days whether or not a therapy is working.

Basically, to construct the result, I snip the reports as produced by the various equipments and paste them into a draw program. This allows me to synch them by aligning, matching, and equalizing their respective time lines. The hardest is the oximeter which doesn't have a real clock. But, I can do it by recording artifacts at know times.

Hoping someone finds this useful (or, at least interesting),

Jay

Links:
Infrared stuff: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65101&p=607701#p607701, viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65101&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... 15#p609795
My Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duivU65Rn4o
My Zeo: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=68424&p=635357#p635357

SUMMARY DATA


Detail of position
The yellow blocks are time markers 1AM, 2AM, etc.

Where did you find the CMS50E for $50? I thought that was normally over $100.

Hi Jay,
Just a couple of questions...
Did you have a lack of deep sleep in your sleep studies too?
Does the leg movement occur more during particular sleep stages?
Did anything in the flow data account for the drop in O2 about 1/3 of the way through?
I should have my ZEO by the end of the week.

Liz

Perrybucsdad wrote:Where did you find the CMS50E for $50?

You are right, Perry! I went back and checked. I paid $89 through Amazon. I remembered $49. See what a lack of sleep will do. Right now the best price I can find is $92, also through Amazon. Sorry for the error, I've edited the post accordingly.

Jay

Dang, I had hopped you had found a deal for us. Oh well.

So for 112.00 you can get the 50F wrist model, with a running clock. I was waiting to see if that price was accurate.

Lizistired wrote:Hi Jay,
Just a couple of questions...
Did you have a lack of deep sleep in your sleep studies too?
Does the leg movement occur more during particular sleep stages?
Did anything in the flow data account for the drop in O2 about 1/3 of the way through?
I should have my ZEO by the end of the week. Liz

Yes, in two of three sleep studies I had 0% deep sleep. In one, I had 3%. Pretty much the same as my Zeo says.

The leg movement is pretty much continuous, I was diagosed w/ severe PLMD. It is most noticeable when I'm on my back thrashing, I'm not sure in this video, but in most, even when I am not on my back I've got that tell-tale rhythmic foot rocking going on. I've tried various meds without success but most were when I wasn't compliant. So, I'm starting through them again, so far, no luck. Having the "sleep lab" does help evaluate the meds quicker, though. I'm looking for a movement detector to incorporate into the lab to count leg movents. The FitBit looks promising. One of the newer pedometers (3 axis) would probably work for a raw count, but I'd like something with clock.

My guess is that the drop in O2 is from rolling on to my back as I come out of REM (see the position marker on the bottom). It is also where I'm experiencing the largest leaks. Since I can't pull the "flow" data out of my S8, I can't know, but I assume those two things result in reduced flow and saturation.

I'm sure you'll like the Zeo. If you want to be nagged about sleep hygiene, they will certainly oblige.

Jay

Lizistired wrote:So for 112.00 you can get the 50F wrist model, with a running clock. I was waiting to see if that price was accurate.

I haven't checked the prices, but for another $10 or so, I'd sure get one with a real clock, if I were to do it again.

Jay

The equipment: S8 Autoset II, $350 (used); Generic Smart Card Reader, $35; Zeo, $150 (0n sale); CMS50E Pulse Oximeter, $90; Webcam, $25; Infrared LED's and parts, $25; my laptop. Total equipment about $675.

The software: Windows 7, ResScan 3.14, OpenOffice3 software suite, and Nimisis time lapse video app ($10).

I can't find reference to Nimisis software. Is the name misspelled or do you have a URL reference?

Jay Aitchsee wrote:

Lizistired wrote:So for 112.00 you can get the 50F wrist model, with a running clock. I was waiting to see if that price was accurate.

I haven't checked the prices, but for another $10 or so, I'd sure get one with a real clock, if I were to do it again.

Jay

You plan on running in your sleep?

JDS74 wrote:

The equipment: S8 Autoset II, $350 (used); Generic Smart Card Reader, $35; Zeo, $150 (0n sale); CMS50E Pulse Oximeter, $90; Webcam, $25; Infrared LED's and parts, $25; my laptop. Total equipment about $675.

The software: Windows 7, ResScan 3.14, OpenOffice3 software suite, and Nimisis time lapse video app ($10).

I can't find reference to Nimisis software. Is the name misspelled or do you have a URL reference?

I think this is the software...http://www.nimisis.com/projects/flix.php

Perrybucsdad wrote:

JDS74 wrote:

The equipment: S8 Autoset II, $350 (used); Generic Smart Card Reader, $35; Zeo, $150 (0n sale); CMS50E Pulse Oximeter, $90; Webcam, $25; Infrared LED's and parts, $25; my laptop. Total equipment about $675.

The software: Windows 7, ResScan 3.14, OpenOffice3 software suite, and Nimisis time lapse video app ($10).

I can't find reference to Nimisis software. Is the name misspelled or do you have a URL reference?

I think this is the software...http://www.nimisis.com/projects/flix.php

That's It - Flix

J

Perrybucsdad wrote:

Jay Aitchsee wrote:

Lizistired wrote:So for 112.00 you can get the 50F wrist model, with a running clock. I was waiting to see if that price was accurate.

I haven't checked the prices, but for another $10 or so, I'd sure get one with a real clock, if I were to do it again.

Jay

You plan on running in your sleep?

I don't know about Liz, but I do about 10 miles a night

Jay

Professional home sleep test equipment is now available for under $2000. For example, the MediByte Junior http://www.braebon.com/docs/BRAEBON%20HST%20QA.pdf

There are plenty of compact, accurate brands available and many more models are coming. This competition will drive the prices down.

In three years or less the prices will be under $1000. $600 is not out of reach.

I hope a used market develops quickly.

CPAP manufacturers may be forced by competition to include more data (oximetry, heart rate, ...) with the CPAP machines.

Hi Jay,
Here's a good used professional home sleep monitor for $1700. Start a little business doing home sleep studies on the side.
Jamis

http://www.dotmed.com/listing/home-slee ... st/1148503

PS: I remember seeing somewhere that a chest strap was being added as an option for a high end XPAP machine. Sure wish I could remember where I read it. That would add important data on respiratory effort.