Software used for sleep study seems to be outdated.

Just reviewed the results of my recent sleep study with my sleep Doc. The 1st thing I noticed is how unsophisticated and rudimentary the sleep report appeared. I'm not a techie or geek, but the report seemed as if it was something you would have seen 20 years ago. Just rough and not very readable. At the bottom of the report, it states the source is Rembrandt - Analysis Manager 9.0.0.156. I did some basic research and it appears that this software is from Embla Systems, which was acquired in September 2011 by Natus Medical Inc., a publicly traded company (symbol: BABY) based in San Carlos, CA.

I'm hopeful that Natus decides to invest more money into the Rembrandt software. Otherwise they'll get beat in the marketplace by a company who can do it better.

-Chuck-

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from: NATUS MEDICAL INC (BABY) 10-K filed 3/14/2012

Diagnostic Polysomnography Monitoring

Overview

Increasing public awareness of sleep disorders has made sleep medicine a rapidly growing specialty. Polysomnography (“PSG”), which involves the analysis of respiratory patterns, brain electrical activity and other physiological data, has proven critical for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep-related diseases such as apnea, insomnia, and narcolepsy. A sleep study entails whole-night recordings of brain electrical activity, muscle movement, airflow, respiratory effort, oxygen levels, electrical activity of the heart (ECG or EKG), and other parameters. These recordings typically result in over 1,000 pages of data that are reviewed, analyzed, and scored by a technician, and summarized in a report for the physician. We market configured laboratory systems, portable systems, and ambulatory recorders for home monitoring.

Diagnostic PSG Monitoring Product Lines

Our diagnostic PSG monitoring products can be used individually or as part of a networked system for overnight sleep studies to assist in the diagnosis of sleep disorders. These products include software licenses, ambulatory monitoring systems, and laboratory systems that combine multiple capabilities, including EEG monitoring, physician review stations, and quantitative EEG analysis capabilities.


• Embla REMlogic, Sandman and REMbrandt; Sleepscan; SleepWorks; Coherence; Harmonie. Our diagnostic PSG systems capture and store all data digitally and provide time-saving features and software for acquiring and analyzing the data. The systems enable users to specify rules and personal preferences to be used during analysis, summarizing the results graphically and incorporating them in detailed reports. Software packages include customized analysis, tools and interfaces with third party equipment.

Chuck Connors wrote:I'm hopeful that Natus decides to invest more money into the Rembrandt software. Otherwise they'll get beat in the marketplace by a company who can do it better.

I doubt they're in a big hurry to do a lot of work with Rembrandt. I'll bet they'd just as soon get everybody to convert to Remlogic (a meld of Rembrandt and Somnologica).

Remlogic has the highly advanced CPC module, of which was the concept initially brought into the limelight with the introduction of CSBD by Thomas et al.

They won't get "beat" in the maarketplace. Their already own their biggest competing product (Sandman).

Timeline:

http://www.natus.com/index.cfm?page=company_1&crid=590

How can we verify what a Sleep Clinic uses?

avi123 wrote:How can we verify what a Sleep Clinic uses?

Simple solution.........just call them up and ask.

They won't get "beat" in the maarketplace. Their already own their biggest competing product (Sandman).
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Thanks for the feedback. I can see now that they will likely put their resources into their winning software diagnostic tool (Sandman) and phase out the old one. Makes sense.

-Chuck-

I don't mind old hardware/software as long as the tech/doc team's wetware is up to date.