Diagnostic Sleep Studies

Polysomnography (PSG) is used in the study of sleep and as a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine. The name is derived from Greek and Latin roots: the Greek πολύς (polus for “many, much”, indicating many channels), the Latin somnus (“sleep”), and the Greek γράφειν (graphein, “to write”).

Polysomnography is a comprehensive recording of the biophysiological changes that occur during sleep and monitors many body functions including brain waves, eye movements , breathing, oxygen levels, muscle activity and heart rhythm during sleep. It is used to diagnose, or rule out, many types of sleep disorders and the testing procedure is called a diagnostic sleep study.

During a diagnostic sleep study, the sensors used are non-invasive and do not hurt. Tiny sensors are applied to the skin of your scalp, face, chest, fingers and legs in order to monitor and record the biological signals of sleep.

We perform only full, ‘level 1’ attended polysomnography, the international gold standard for sleep studies.

Level I

Attended studies (sleep studies that are performed with the oversight of a sleep technologist or sleep scientist) with full sleep staging (sleep staging monitors the transition through the sleep stages, traditionally with the use of EEG electrodes that monitor the brain). Type I devices must include the following channels:

• EEG
• EOG
• ECG/Heart rate
• Chin EMG
• Limb EMG
• Respiratory effort at thorax and abdomen
• Air Flow from nasal cannula / thermistor
• Pulse Oximetry
• Video
• Additional channels for CPAP/Bi-level, TcCO2