The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a novel device - developed by Haifa's Technion Institute of Technology - that inexpensively and accurately screens for "sleep apnea" at home. The disease is characterized by the temporary cessation of breathing during sleep, and mostly affects men over the age of 35. The patient fastens the 4-inch long plastic strip to his upper lip before bed. Three tiny temperature sensors attached to the strip record when the patient stops breathing, which in a sleep apnea sufferer can happen 200 to 300 times a night. In the morning, the patient removes the strip and returns it to the doctor who reads the results directly from the built-in display. The device is powered by a tiny eight-hour battery.
"SleepStrip" was developed at the Sleep Research Laboratory at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology by renowned sleep expert Dr. Peretz Lavie and Noam Hadas, head of research and development for SLP, a sister company of the laboratory. Researchers in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Israel, Canada and the United States have used the device to successfully screen patients with sleep apnea after one-night tests.
"It's important to detect sleep apnea as soon as possible because it can be a precursor to hypertension, ischemic heart disease, heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Lavie, who heads the Technion Sleep Research Laboratory. "With 'SleepStrip' we can scan entire segments of the population, such as severely obese people and those with high blood pressure." Dr. Yosef Krespi, chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, has tested more than 50 of the devices and says patients are responding favorably to it.
"SleepStrip" was developed at the Sleep Research Laboratory at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology by renowned sleep expert Dr. Peretz Lavie and Noam Hadas, head of research and development for SLP, a sister company of the laboratory. Researchers in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Israel, Canada and the United States have used the device to successfully screen patients with sleep apnea after one-night tests.
"It's important to detect sleep apnea as soon as possible because it can be a precursor to hypertension, ischemic heart disease, heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Lavie, who heads the Technion Sleep Research Laboratory. "With 'SleepStrip' we can scan entire segments of the population, such as severely obese people and those with high blood pressure." Dr. Yosef Krespi, chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, has tested more than 50 of the devices and says patients are responding favorably to it.