OUTER space and the Bronze Age do not sit well in the same sentence – they may both have existed at the same time, but anyone based on Earth back then would not have known much, or anything, about what lies beyond.
Barcelona hospital monitors sleep apnoea patients from home
13/11/2018
A HOSPITAL in Barcelona has set up a system allowing it to monitor patients with sleep apnoea from home, cutting down on in-patient stays by an average of 40% to 50%.
Equipment installed in patients' bedrooms sends data remotely to the multi-disciplinary sleep disorder unit at the Hospital del Mar, and a nurse reviews them under supervision by a team of specialist doctors.
So far, eight patients have been hooked up to the system to see how their treatment is working.
Sleep apnoea is where a person briefly and periodically stops breathing whilst asleep, causing the body to jolt itself out of the normal sleep-wake cycle as an emergency response to enable it to start breathing again.
As a result, the patient never gets through the full phase of deep, repairing sleep as this is constantly interrupted and restarted.
Snoring is often a sign of sleep apnoea, although recent research shows female sufferers are less likely to snore, meaning it can still be diagnosed in 'silent sleepers'.
The only way to diagnose the condition, which is statistically infrequent but far from unusual, is for the patient to spend a night in a specialist sleep unit in hospital.
Hospital del Mar's home-monitoring equipment includes a continuous positive pressure apparatus (CPAP), the standard treatment method for sleep apnoea, but with a remote function that sends data to a central system at the medical centre.
The machinery can be reconfigured remotely, too, meaning patients' treatment can be adjusted without their needing to visit the hospital.
Using the system, medics can see how long the patient spends asleep in the different phases, how many episodes of apnoea he or she suffers, and for how long.
Unless any problems are detected via the system, patients will not need to go to hospital for check-ups or for their equipment to be altered, says head of the sleep unit, Dr Miguel Félez.
Photograph by the Sleep Disorders Association (ATS)
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
A HOSPITAL in Barcelona has set up a system allowing it to monitor patients with sleep apnoea from home, cutting down on in-patient stays by an average of 40% to 50%.
Equipment installed in patients' bedrooms sends data remotely to the multi-disciplinary sleep disorder unit at the Hospital del Mar, and a nurse reviews them under supervision by a team of specialist doctors.
So far, eight patients have been hooked up to the system to see how their treatment is working.
Sleep apnoea is where a person briefly and periodically stops breathing whilst asleep, causing the body to jolt itself out of the normal sleep-wake cycle as an emergency response to enable it to start breathing again.
As a result, the patient never gets through the full phase of deep, repairing sleep as this is constantly interrupted and restarted.
Snoring is often a sign of sleep apnoea, although recent research shows female sufferers are less likely to snore, meaning it can still be diagnosed in 'silent sleepers'.
The only way to diagnose the condition, which is statistically infrequent but far from unusual, is for the patient to spend a night in a specialist sleep unit in hospital.
Hospital del Mar's home-monitoring equipment includes a continuous positive pressure apparatus (CPAP), the standard treatment method for sleep apnoea, but with a remote function that sends data to a central system at the medical centre.
The machinery can be reconfigured remotely, too, meaning patients' treatment can be adjusted without their needing to visit the hospital.
Using the system, medics can see how long the patient spends asleep in the different phases, how many episodes of apnoea he or she suffers, and for how long.
Unless any problems are detected via the system, patients will not need to go to hospital for check-ups or for their equipment to be altered, says head of the sleep unit, Dr Miguel Félez.
Photograph by the Sleep Disorders Association (ATS)
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
More News & Information
A FIRM annual fixture for fans of the latest technology, the Barcelona-based Mobile World Congress (MWC) never fails to blow visitors' minds with creations they didn't know they needed. And these cutting-edge...
A HOLLYWOOD legend joining folk-dancers from Asturias and showing off her fancy footwork in the street is not a scene your average Oviedo resident witnesses during his or her weekly shop. Even though their northern...
Debate over banning short-distance flights takes off, but the cons outweigh the pros