Found this forum from related site cpapauction.com where I just posted an Oximeter for sale (Masimo Radical), aka Pulse-Ox. This device measures the oxygen saturation in your blood.
Oxygen saturation is probably the single-most important metric used in diagnosing sleep apnea. This is the finger probe with red LED, for those who have experienced it. The sleep technicians or doctor looks for what are called desaturation events, which is quantified by a drop in O2 levels by 4 percentage points within a 3-minute window. The number of desats per hour is roughly equal to an AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index, which is used to diagnose OSA and its severity).
An AHI of 5 (events per hour) is the minimum frequency for a sleep apnea diagnosis. AHI of 15 is the threshold for fitting a CPAP machine. 30 or over is considered severe sleep apnea.
disclaimer: I am not a medical professional but an OSA patient motivated to find some answers. I hope to share and contribute, but don't mistaken me for a doctor, lol. I am trying to keep this as simple and straight forward as possible.
I was first interested in home O2 studies so I could try multiple things much cheaper and more convenient than having multiple studies. I could try with and without my oral appliance, with and without alcohol consumption (try that at the sleep clinic!), different sleep positions, with/without cpap, and different decongestiant techniques (nasal sprays, sudafed, etc).
So anyhow, my point with this thread is to describe some of the tools one would use if self-administering an overnight O2 monitoring test. You'll need the following:
1. A Pulse Oximeter. Must be capable of storing atleast a nights-worth of data, and PC interface so you can pull the results into your computer (for analysis). Oh, you need the interface cable as well.. my Masimo Radical uses a 9-pin serial cable.
2. Analysis software. From some Google searching, I found a product called ProFox that does exactly what I want. This is professional software and carries a professional price ($500+) but I called and asked if they had any consumer versions or trial software. Fortunately they were able to provide a demonstration copy (with watermarks) for under $100. This may be an unofficial deal so YMMV.
You can view sample ProFox reports HERE.
In talking to the sales rep at ProFox, he was able to recommend some PulseOx's that were better suited for my use than others. The Masimo and Nellcor units were highly praised. I found my oximeter on ebay.. although they may be more strict now. Fortunately we have an alternative in cpapauction.com!
For those interested in a used Oximeter, I have mine up for auction here:
http://www.cpapauction.com/auction-list ... ation.html
While I'm sure this sounds like a shameless plug for my auction, I hope some of the steps and information here can be useful for others. Best of luck in your quest for answers!
