Tag Archives: dentists

Worth the Weight

The ultra light SleepView type 3 home sleep monitor from CleveMed is designed to be simple for patients, and cost effective for sleep labs.

Just shy of a year on the market, the SleepView from CleveMed has managed to carve a growing niche in the highly competitive world of home sleep monitoring. Sarah Weimer, director of Sleep Products at the Cleveland-based manufacturer, touts the device as the smallest and lightest home sleep monitor within the AASM-recommended Type 3 channel-set guidelines.

At a weight of approximately 2 ounces, the equipment is ergonomically designed for patients to perform a self test at home, while also working hand in hand with CleveMed’s eCrystal PSG Web Portal. The Web site is a place where sleep studies are uploaded for review and scoring by sleep technologists, then interpreted by board certified sleep physicians.

Easy for Patients
While Medicare approved home sleep testing last year, reimbursement still stands at just over $200. At that rate, Weimer points out that it is not cost effective for sleep labs, especially if sleep professionals must be involved with the setup every step of the way. “With that in mind, the goal with the SleepView was to make a device that fulfilled the channel set asked for by AASM, with the types of sensors that they like to see as well,” says Weimer. “At the same time, we wanted it to be very easy for patients to do a self hook up with minimal instruction.”

Clevemed was uniquely suited to do an incredibly small Type III device due to the company’s long history of producing wireless electrophysiology monitors. Working within the diminutive design parameters, engineers sought to avoid the more complex harness systems used by competitors. “We wanted it to be small and light enough that it could be supported by a traditional respiratory effort belt,” reveals Weimer. “It is easier for patients to hook themselves up. They don’t have to worry about extra mounting straps or the discomfort of having the device worn elsewhere on the body.”

Not surprisingly, patients appreciate how easy it is to put on the SleepView. For patients who think it may be too easy and question the procedure, engineers went an additional step with LED light indicators on the front that let patients know if they have hooked themselves up properly. “If they turn the device on, but they don’t have sensors on, there is a little light on the front of the device by each channel name that will light up red to let them know that they are not hooked up properly,” explains Weimer. “As they get each channel hooked up correctly, those lights will turn green to indicate that it is collecting a good signal. When the patient first turns the device on, those lights will stay on for 90 seconds, and then anytime during the night the patient can hit the ‘on’ button again to get another 30 seconds of feedback about whether the device is collecting good signals or not.”

Feedback on usability and success rates tabulated from sponsored tests have consistently shown that patients come back with valid data. “Other customers have been using our other product, the Sleep Scout, which is a little bit more traditional and a little bit more complicated for the patient to put on,” says Weimer. “It [the Scout] does not have the feedback, and we would have an increased number of unsuccessful studies with that product compared to this product. The immediate patient feedback on the SleepView lets patients know that they may not have a sensor in place properly, and they can fix it right away.”

Expanding the Market
Weimer agrees that the SleepView, and home testing in general, will likely expand the market for sleep labs by increasing access and awareness to potential patients. The undiagnosed masses will get into the treatment cycle, benefitting all parties throughout the continuum of care.

As more clinicians learn about the importance of sleep, referrals will also increase the flow of patients. “Patients are typically seeing their or primary care physicians, and if those health care professionals are asking the right questions about sleep, it is just going to increase the number of people who are aware and getting tested,” says Weimer. “There is also the idea that home testing could harm the sleep lab by reducing the number of patients they are able to see, but I think that is a misconception.”

SleepView handhold Worth the Weight

SleepView At a Glance
Hardware Dimensions: 3” x 2.6” x 0.7” (7.6 cm x 6.6 cm x 1.8 cm)

Weight: 2 oz (57 g) (approx.) with batteries
Power: 1 AAA battery
Memory: 1G internal memory
7 Dedicated Channels
1) Heart Rate
2) Pulse Oximetry
3) Airflow (pressure based)
4) Airflow (thermistor)
5) Snore (derived from airflow)
6) Respiratory Effort Belt (RIP)
7) Body Position

Software
SleepView works with the eCrystal PSG Web Portal, allowing treating physicians to initiate home sleep tests directly from their practices. Data from the SleepView is uploaded through the web portal to a network of professional technologists and sleep physicians for timely scoring and study interpretation. Later reports with recommended treatment or follow-up are retrieved by the treating physician. This patient monitoring system allows physicians to provide a continuum of care.

For more information: http://www.clevemed.com/SleepView/overview.shtml




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The Dental Decade of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment

It wasn’t a scientific survey, but if the level of discourse at the recent APSS meeting was any indication, sleep physicians are warming up to dental sleep medicine.

Flex with new logo The Dental Decade of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment

The decade of dental of sleep medicine may have quietly kicked off in the halls of this year’s Associated Professional Sleep Societies’ meeting in San Antonio. In a marked change over last year, vendors have encountered acceptance where they had previously found reluctance.

SomnoMed, an Australia-based dental sleep medical com- pany and makers of the SomnoDent® MAS devices saw the subtle shift firsthand. It started with an overall tone of positiv- ity that quickly morphed into an infectious enthusiasm. At last year’s APSS in Seattle they were still getting questions about clinical data and people asking about white papers and publi- cations. This year, they heard totally different questions, such as: ‘Where do I find SomnoMed to work with?’.

The new line of inquiry amounts to a huge shift in a rel- atively short amount of time. A year ago, attendees wanted proof, but this year more are convinced. The new mindset is at least partly due to a concerted educational effort on the part of SomnoMed and others. Focused communication to the medi- cal market has hammered home the message that oral appli- ance therapy is backed by solid evidence, with more to come in the near future.

Ralf Barschow, CEO of SomnoMed agrees that medical acceptance is higher than last year, but he believes clinicians will ultimately embrace oral therapies on a much larger scale. Along with greater acceptance, Barschow noticed a lot more traffic coming to their booths this year, with serious inquiries outnumbering the casual fact finders. “We had more people taking contact details and networking than at any other time. I would characterize the interest as sensational.”

Next year’s APSS will be held in Minnesota and could be another milestone that mirrors the situation with home sleep testing. The analogy with works because just like that facet of sleep medicine, dental therapy has taken time to settle in and gain acceptance with certain segments of the market. Full polysomnograms were once considered infinitely superior to home tests, just as it was once considered unthink- able that oral appliances could be a better choice than CPAP.

Now people realize that patients are different and options are a positive development. SomnoMed’s latest innovation the RCMP (Remote Controlled Mandible Positioner) allows physi- cians in the PSG setting, along with a technician, to basically titrate throughout the night to determine whether the therapy will work, and to determine where the bite must be to get the optimal results.

“The unit is completely integrated into the software and the tech is already familiar with the oral appliance for titra- tion,” says Barschow, who’s company custom fabricates the SomnoDent® MAS, a mandibular advancement splint. “It plugs right into the channel and literally, instead of titrating to pressures, it is titrating to advancement in millimeter fraction increments—similar to the way our device can be advanced.”

As a company, it’s all part of SomnoMed’s effort to be viewed as more than just a therapy piece. Instead, the com- pany is looking for a way to determine efficacy, compliance and spread education. There is a SomnoMed Academy, which is an educational entity that generates continuing education credits for the dental and medical fraternity. It started out in the therapy market and the therapy arena.

who wish to get involved can contact the company and purchase a starter kit with collateral materials and three devices. Participating dental professionals may choose to reg- ister for an Awaken Seminar, which is a 2-day continuing edu- cation event that teaches how to prescribe oral appli- ance therapy. “We explain why and how they need to interact with the medical community to get a proper diagnosis,” says Barschow. “However, we have always maintained, and will continue to maintain that it is the physician’s role to treat the patient, diagnose the patient, and once oral appliance therapy is deemed appropriate treatment—it goes over to the dental arena for the fitting of the device. Patient care is for the physi- cian, and diagnosis is for the physician.”

Choice is Key
Like the burgeoning industry, SomnoMed is offering more options to customers. Currently, there are three MAS gold standard products which have been developed, each with dif- ferent clinical indications aimed at OSA sufferers. These in- clude the SomnoDent® MAS Classic, SomnoDent® MAS Flex, and SomnoDent® MAS Edent for the Edentulous patient.

The SomnoDent® MAS is a custom designed sleep apnea oral appliance and has been the subject of numerous strin- gent, evidence-based studies that satisfy the need for a safe and effective treatment for OSA. The SomnoDent® MAS has a number of design features such as: a streamlined design with minimal bulk, which maximizes the size of the lingual space and reduces gagging.

The company touts an excellent fit in both upper and lower arches with anterior and posterior contact for a stable occlu- sion, which prevents tooth movement and minimizes term- pero-mandibular joint discomfort and injuries. The MAS is constructed in two separate pieces that allow patients to open and close their mouths. This allows clear speech, yawning, and drinking without requiring patients to remove the appliance. The ability to communicate clearly while wearing the device is particularly appreciated by patients and their partners.

For more information, visit www.somnomed.com

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Information and Education

phar equip11 Information and Education

A renewed commitment to a nationwide phone reference (1-800-SLEEPLAB) is just one of many projects on the Sleep Group Solutions docket.

Rani Ben-David, president of Sleep Group Solutions (SGS), North Miami Beach, Fla, wants to be all things to all people, at least when it comes to the telephone lines. The ambitious goal comes in the form of 1-800-SLEEPLAB, a work in progress that seeks to be nothing less than the largest directory in the sleep world—an ever-widening realm that includes neurology, cardiology, ENTs, , and .

With Vital Lessons Learned
From 1-800-SNORING, a pilot project dedicated solely to the dental end, Ben-David hopes to be a first-call for consumers who need help. Depending on the zip code from where the call originates, inquiries would go straight to participating sleep professionals. who use SGS sleep interpretation and scoring services will also automatically be a part of the 1-800 directory. “Right now there is no one directory for everybody,” says Ben-David. “This one reference is designed to be the heart for everyone.” While the listing is for FREE the sleep labs and Physicians have the option to lease the 1800 number for the ZIP code they practice at for a very low fee.

SGS has built its reputation by thinking big, and when company officials needed an advisor, they went straight to the top, garnering advice from Atul Malhotra, MD, medical director for the Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) Sleep Disorders Research Program. SGS is the manufacturer of the Eccovision Rhinometer and Pharyngometer.
Jeffrey Fredberg The Harvard professor who invented the Eccovision Rhinometer and Pharyngometer recommended Malhotra, and Ben-David now counts the BWH mainstay as a friend and business associate. As both a purveyor of education and a seller of sophisticated measuring devices and other Sleep products such as the Embletta ambulatory sleep device, SGS has seen dramatic growth that mirrors the hype surrounding the burgeoning sleep industry. Plans for 2010/2011 are simple: keep it going, spread the news, and take on even more projects. That is why CEO Tamir Cohen has started a road trip to Europe and the Middle East to start partnerships in those Regions.

New Partners, New Twists, New Technology
A partnership with Newport Beach, Calif-based Glidewell Dental Lab offers SGS an opportunity to double its number of educational seminars to about 80 per year. Glidewell Doctors will now get a discounted rate. Glidewell provides a lot of dental appliances in the vast metropolis of Southern California and throughout the World. “It’s a huge partnership because they do more than 3,000 per month,” enthuses Ben-David. “Those Doctors need the education, and it’s a perfect opportunity for two companies with integrity to come together for mutual benefit. Glidewell is one of the most reputable Dental Labs in the World”.
embletta sgs1 Information and Education

The SGS educational model starts with a 2-day seminar. “Most of the professionals who lecture for us are diplomates of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine,” adds Ben-David. “Doctors come to the courses very excited to learn about the field of sleep. In 2 days, we teach them about apnea, insomnia, and the main sleep problems. Of course, we cover the dental side of sleep apnea and our are very soon, busy treating patients.

emblas sgs sensors1 Information and Education
An App for That

Technology in the form of an iPhone application is designed to aid consumers, many of whom rely heavily on cell  phone information. The app records a bed partner’s snoring for 60 seconds, then features a questionnaire to fill out. “Send it to us and our server automatically sends it to the closest sleep pro in your area, and that professional is part of the 800 directory,” explains Ben-David. “The wife tells the husband that he snores. She can download the app and record him, the sleep doc will call you for the evaluation. People know they have a problem, but don’t take that extra step. Now the stalemate can be broken.” and can send the application via email as a kind of rudimentary initial screening. “It’s not a medical screening,” admits Ben-David, “but they can send it to their patients and ultimately give an opinion.” Oral Appliance for Less Yet another SGS venture with Respire Medical involves an
oral appliance at a reasonable price. “It is a laboratory-fabricated appliance at a cost of $149,” says Ben-David.  “Compare that to a well-known brand that is $550. For the patient to be able to do it, we lowered the cost of the appliance. It’s as good as everyone else’s, but at a quarter of the price. We are making enough money on the $149 that we don’t need to charge more.” The Gelb Center in New York City has partnered with SGS and Respire to offer the best solutions for Sleep Disordered Breathing. Drs Harold and Michael Gelb direct an Integrated TMJ and Sleep practice at 635 Madison Avenue together with David Walton and Walid Raad of Respire and SGS.

Rani Ben-David, President of Sleep Group Solutions is based in Miami, FL.
For more information on SGS, please visit www. sleepgroupsolutions.com

sgslogo11 Information and Education

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