Peripheral Arterial Tonometry Used to Distinguish Central And Obstructive Sleep Apnea Events

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder with a high prevalence in the general population causing cardiovascular disorders such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and hypertension. Sleep apnea had been diagnosed in sleep laboratories. With the high prevalence home sleep apnea testing is becoming the regular diagnostic test. In order to reduce the number of sensors, methods use more indirect ways to derive the relevant features to detect apnea and hypopnea events. One such method is peripheral arterial tonometry, which evaluates the pulse wave on the finger. This method has long been claimed as not being able to distinguish central and obstructive apnea events. A multicenter trial was now able to show that a new analysis algorithm is able to distinguish central from obstructive events with sufficient accuracy.