Northwind Lung Specialists & Sleep Center Provides ARES Home Sleep Testing

Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 8:14 PM

A Coon Rapids sleep center with latest technology to help patients deal with sleep disorders at the Northwind Lung Specialists & Sleep Center has been providing services to patients with sleep disorders since 2004. Now, new technology allows the patient’s sleep study to take place at home.

For some people, the overnight sleep study, which is monitored by a technician in another room at the center, is both inconvenient and intimidating, Dahl said. For the overnight sleep study, they are hooked up to a variety of diagnostic equipment to monitor heart rate, brain waves and leg movements while they sleep, all of which is captured on a video camera.

For sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy and restless leg syndrome , the ARES home sleeping test is ideal for most obstructive sleep apnea patients, which make up the majority of cases seen at Northwind. Obstructive sleep apnea is a physical condition caused by the airway collapsing and resulting in an interruption in breathing that lasts for at least 10 seconds. According to the National Sleep Foundation, about one in four men and one in 10 women suffer from sleep apnea.

Northwind is one of the first facilities in the Twin Cities to offer the home sleep study option. This is a recent development in sleep disorders testing. Doing the sleep study at home can be more comfortable, convenient and economical for the patient. The testing is reliable from the home sleep study device at 95 percent.

The patient returns the ARES device to Northwind the next morning, where the signal is downloaded and e-mailed to Watermark, where a technician interprets the data and e-mails the results back to Gensmer. Patients who have used the ARES in a home sleep study have generally been positive.

The treatment of sleep disorders is a relatively new medical specialty in the last 15 to 20 years. In the case of sleep apnea, most people are treated with CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) equipment, which comprises a mask and small machine that supplies air pressure to keep the patient’s airway open when they are asleep.

Northwind Lung Specialists & Sleep Center is located at the intersection of Coon Rapids and Round Lake boulevards.