Focus Center for Sleep Apnea and Snoring

Sleep Apnea & Snoring

Agoura Hills, CA

(818) 889-4448

Treating Sleep Apnea

Diagnostic Equipment

The treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea needs to start with a thorough examination by a trained Sleep Specialist.  In our office that is our resident Physician, Dr. Kathleen Anderson MD.  With her skill and the use of advanced diagnostic equipment, we are able to develop a treatment plan that is right for you.  Our goal is to give our patients the most advanced methods to diagnose sleep apnea possible with both medical and dental equipment.  We are always changing our techniques and technology as better equipment is available. We are using the following diagnositc equipment on our patients:
 
Rhinometer and Pharyngometer
 
 

Pharyngometer

The pharyngometer (instrument 2) test is used to map the cross-sectional diameter of the oral airway and measure its stability. This allows one to discover existing points of obstruction as well as your optimal breathing position.

In addition, the pharyngometer is instrumental in determining your eligibility regarding successful oral appliance therapy.

Rhinometer

In order to check the nasal passages, the rhinometer (instrument 1) test is performed first. This tool helps to rule out any obstruction or enlargement in the turbinates as the cause of your sleep disordered breathing problem.

Pharyngometry is non-invasive and only takes a few minutes. The patient sits upright and places the Pharyngometer in their mouth. The fit is similar to a SCUBA mouthpiece the device fits between the teeth. The practitioner has the patient move their jaw backward and forward, while sound waves measure the airway volume in real-time. This allows the practitioner to locate the most unstable and narrowest portions of the airway.

If an oral appliance is to be used for treatment, the Pharyngometer is then used in the same manner to measure the best jaw position for maintaining an open and stable airway. Thus, precise fitting of the oral appliance can be made.
Watch Pat 100/200
 
The Watch-PAT200 provides a method of  screening, diagnosis, treatment assessment and patient follow-up, as a take home device to help us measure sleep-related breathing disorders. This instrument is easy to use at home and does not seem to affect your sleep.  This has always been a problem when going to a sleep center overnight. 
 
The Watch-PAT200 is a self-contained device that is worn on the wrist and uses a non-invasive finger probe to measure the signal. The recorded signals are stored in a removable memory card in the device to be downloaded to a computer for automatic analysis. In addition to the PAT Signal, the Watch-PAT200 records oxygen saturation and actigraphy(how much movement you do).  This great tool also tells us your pulse rate, how loud you snore in decibels, what position you snore in and the quality of your sleep.
 
Ultimately, we can determine how many respiratory disturbances you have(not good), whether you sound like a MAC Truck while snoring, and ultimately...how bad your sleep apnea is. 
 
Again, if we find that you are suffering from a severe amount of sleep apnea, we will ask that you have the overnight sleep study done. 
 
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