I activate the service to diagnose them comfortably from home

di Francesca Zinghini

9 May 2021 - Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS, Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) is characterized by respiratory pauses during sleep, due to partial or total obstruction of the upper airways, associated with nocturnal snoring. In Italy, according to recent epidemiological data, 24 million people between the ages of 15 and 74 suffer from it, but only 460.000 of these have received a diagnosis and just 230.000 are under treatment.
L'Integrated Therapies Unit in Otorhinolaryngology of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital offers telemedicine service to diagnose OSAS from the comfort of your home. It is a small "disposable" device to be worn on the wrist like a watch. Just apply two sensors, one on your finger and one on your neck, and activate the device to record all sleep parameters: snoring, heart rate, any sleep apnea, oxygenation, positions taken during rest. Subsequently, the data is transferred to the relevant app installed on their smartphone, where the patient will indicate the end of the test in the morning. The specialist will then analyze the data recorded during the night and the examination report will then be illustrated to the patient in the context of a diagnostic-therapeutic orientation interview. With an accurate and multidisciplinary diagnosis, it is possible to choose between different solutions to the problem, such as, for example, lifestyle changes and weight loss or the use of mandibular advancement devices. There is also one minimally invasive pharyngo-paratal surgical technique, also known as "no cut": the Modular Barbed Snore Surgery. The operation consists in suspending the fibromuscular structures to the rigid pharyngeal structures, creating a sort of palatopharyngeal tensile structure which counteracts the oropharyngeal collapse at the base of the apnea on the one hand and the vibration of the palate on the other. This technique can be applied both for simple snoring and for cases of severe apnea, it does not require any removal of fibromuscular tissue, guaranteeing a faster recovery and better efficacy compared to traditional surgeries.