A Device to Assess Sleep Breathing in Children at Home

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs), such as sleep apnea, take a heavy public health toll, especially on children. Mounting evidence suggests that these disorders can impact physical and mental development. Diagnosing and understanding these disorders are major challenges. Polysomnography, an imperfect gold standard, is not practical to apply on a wide basis. As many as 20% of all children snore, and most sleep laboratories do not have experience with children. All parties agree that an in-home assessment system could revolutionize the management of SRBDs, and possibly the management of several other conditions, such as congestive heart failure. Several in-home assessment devices have been proposed over the years, but none has combined all the characteristics necessary for widespread adoption by physicians and acceptance by patients. These desiderata include: Accuracy, Low cost, Convenience, Simplicity, and Familiarity. The Apneos SleepCorder(TM) is a revolutionary medical device in that it (1) is the first method of SRBD diagnosis to meet these high standards, and (2) is capable of assessing the full range of SRBDs. In particular, the SleepCorder's ability to quantify snoring, which will be validated in Phase 1 of the proposed research, is uniquely valuable in the pediatric population, given that many authorities believe snoring is never benign in children. The public health implications of the proposed research are considerable. SRBDs are common, serious conditions that are under-diagnosed and, therefore, under-treated. The Apneos SleepCorder has the potential to greatly simplify the way sleep apnea and related conditions are diagnosed and treated, with lower cost and with increased convenience. Many children snore when they sleep. This can be a sign of difficulty moving air in and out of the lungs. Currently there are no convenient, accurate, inexpensive methods to determine how much snoring is happening, and whether the snoring is a sign of something more ominous. The proposed research will lead to such a device.