use of portable (screening) sleep devices at patient's home

hi
i have come across lot of articles regarding sleep disorder diagnosis that portable at-home diagnostic equipments that are unattended are not an effective method for diagnosing OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) owing to data losses and inaccurate results.
I believe that these equipments could only be used as a screening tool to rule in the possibility of OSA and the patient has to get back to the clinic for a complete PSG Study

There are certain data loggers or sleep study recorders such as Stardust (Respironics), Embletta (Embla) etc which can be used for in-home sleep monitoring. But can these studies be an alternative to a PSG study conducted at sleep labs?

I am studying the Global sleep disorder diagnostic equipment market and so would really appreciate for a positive response.

I have certain questions pertaining to the ambulatory devices for sleep monitoring.
Like 1. What parameters do the sleep labs consider in deciding on buying these ambulatory equipments? for example: price of the equipment, channels measured, ease of scoring or reviewing, ease of use etc

2. How are these at-home devices different from those used in the lab? What are the most important parameters which an at-home device should measure (eg airflow, oxygen saturation etc.)?

thanks.

from light bulb/our collective wisdom, sleep test article:
cpaptalk-articles/sleep-study-tests.html
near the end under Alternatives there are a few links to in-home screening devices.

hey thanks
But i had gone through that link before and it does talk about alternatives to PSG study.
i would really appreciate if i could get information on the parameters considered by sleep clinics when they buy these portable sleep devices from the manufacturers like its price, the channels measured by it, ease of scoring and reviewing etc
Secondly how common is the use of screening devices at home? i believe only oximeters are such devices used at home (unattended ambulatory)which measure the levels of oxygen saturation in blood. but do they come out with assured results for diagnosing OSA or is it that a patient has to go in for a full PSG study at lab for reconfirmation.

i will be grateful if i could get responses on these queries. Thanks again.

Kaneeka, I can't answer your questions, but here's a link you might find interesting.

https://www.cms.hhs.gov/coverage/download/id110g.pdf

It's the transcript from a meeting of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service) held on September 28, 2004 in Baltimore, MD.

The committee met "to hear and discuss evidence and testimony regarding the use of unattended portable multi-channel home sleep testing devices as an alternative to facility-based polysomnography in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, OSA. The committee will make recommendations to CMS concerning the quality of the evidence for the use of these home sleep testing devices."

The pro and con comments by visitors and the committe members were very interesting.

Kaneeka wrote:i believe only oximeters are such devices used at home (unattended ambulatory)which measure the levels of oxygen saturation in blood.

See.... http://healthdynamics.com.au/home_based ... index.html

and... http://apneashop.com.au/apnea/home_apnea_screening.php

You may also find a Google search on the topic "CPAP home monitoring" useful.

Cheers,

Bill

hey rested gal

thanks a ton for your help
i really appreciate your initiative in this regard.

Could you please forward such links which would act like a breakthrough in my understanding of this product .
thanks again.
will come up with further queries.
God bless.