Validation of a Telemonitoring System for Sleep Apnea Treatment

摘要

Patient's compliance is crucial for the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but many patients withdraw it due to its side effects. Air Liquide developed NOWAPI, a novel telemedicine system, which provides the CPAP treatment remote monitoring of the patient at home and is designed to be compatible with all CPAP devices under clinical use. The aim of this study was to validate NOWAPI in a bench test simulating OSA patients. First, the influence of NOWAPI sensor unit geometry to the CPAP treatment was assessed. Then, NOWAPI's performance in correctly detecting the treatment duration and the residual events was tested. Recorded data were wirelessly sent to a secure server by NOWAPI, then downloaded and analyzed. NOWAPI sensor unit connection to the setting did not influence the CPAP treatment. The difference between the treatment duration estimated by the device and actual values was never higher than 3 min over the 4-hour test. The difference between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) estimated by NOWAPI and the actual values was not significantly different from the one between the AHI estimated by the CPAP machines and the actual values (p=0.171). NOWAPI showed an excellent performance in this bench test and could be a valuable tool for telemonitoring the treatment of OSA.