Philips is releasing a new at-home sleep analyzer to help diagnose obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep problems. Alice PDx can be administered by patients themselves in their own home before going to sleep, and results of the study are then transferred to a physician via an SD memory card for later analysis. The system can also be used at a sleep lab or any other clinical facility offering cardio-respiratory sleep analysis.
Features of the Alice PDx:
It displays the amount of "good quality data" needed for a study to be complete and valid. The indicator measures patient airflow, gathered by the nasal cannula and/or the oral thermistor, airflow from therapy devices, and pulse oximetry, gathered by the SpO2 sensor. Without either of these signals, the sleep study would be declared diagnostically invalid because of insufficient data.
Color-Coded Labels – located around the perimeter of the device, indicate where to connect the various sensor leads. The display shows the patient only the sensors that need to be connected. The sensor information and indicators help patients place the sensors correctly and reduce the need for retesting due to application errors.
Sensor Application Reference Guide – a helpful, color-coded, step-by-step diagram is included with the device to walk patients through the appropriate application process.
Optional ECG and ExG Yokes – The Alice PDx device supports a single lead, six-lead, or seven-lead ECG. The optional ECG yoke provides a three-lead ECG (five wires). This provides seven total measured and derived ECG channels which provide data to help assess OSA in patients who may have cardiac comorbidities.
The optional ExG yoke provides thirteen inputs to provide four EEG/EOG channels and three EMG channels, including ground and references. This enables level-two application for advanced sleep analysis.
Multi-Night Recording Capability – With the SD card memory and two-to-three night battery life, the Alice PDx can collect information from multi-night recordings when needed. The Alice PDx can be set to start and stop recording automatically to minimize the risk of the patient forgetting to do it.
For therapy follow-up (sleep and NIV), and in addition to all cardio-respiratory parameters described, Alice PDx is capable of recording up to 8 additional parameters coming from a Respironics device. A T-accessory can be connected to the pressure port to provide flow and pressure from non-Respironics devices
Single Software Application – The Alice PDx can be connected directly to a computer running the proven Sleepware software application. Sleepware can display live or pre-recorded data in a resolution consistent with the computer hardware specifications. Sleepware provides a single software application for lab and portable testing.
Here’s a simple flash demo of the Alice PDx:
Press release: Philips introduces new, advanced portable recording device for diagnostic assessment of cardio-respiratory sleep disorders…
Product page with video demonstrating device use: Alice PDx Diagnostic System…