DreamPort™ Portable Sleep Gateway

Sarah Weimer CleveMed Inc Cleveland, OH
www.clevemed.com

WHY DID YOU DEVELOP THE DREAMPORT PORTABLE SLEEP GATEWAY?

The DreamPort was developed to improve patient's access to full PSG studies. We were approached by a physician who was interested in performing sleep studies on chronic pain and fibromyalgia patients. The physician was initially interested in using our wireless technology to perform an unattended PSG study in the patient's home, but our engineering team took on the challenge of using technology to perform a remotely attended study.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The DreamPort allows remotely attended sleep studies from anywhere, using a bedside system controlled by sleep technologists over the internet. The DreamPort works with CleveMed's Sapphire PSG system to collect patient data and video in real-time from almost any location using a highly user-friendly and portable bedside system.

The patient is hooked up for the PSG study by a technologist in a physician office or in the patient's home. The DreamPort is positioned next to the bed, plugged into the wall for power and turned on. The technologist is then able to remotely connect to the DreamPort from a computer in a sleep lab or physician office. The technologist is able to view the patient data and video in real time. Annotations can be made in the data during recording, however, due to varying internet speeds on slower connections, it is recommended that data be scored after acquisition is complete.

WHAT ADVANTAGE WILL THE DREAMPORT GIVE A SLEEP LAB?

The DreamPort is ideal for sleep labs that are interested in expanding beyond the traditional sleep lab building. The system can be used to conduct tests in patient homes, nursing homes or hospital inpatient rooms. Physicians practicing in rural areas may find that the DreamPort is more convenient than in-lab testing. The no show rate of the sleep lab may be lower due to the increased patient convenience of using the DreamPort for home based testing. The DreamPort can also be a valuable research tool for studying patients outside of the sleep lab because it is difficult to collect the data inside the lab, such as fibromyalgia patients, or to be more cost effective by testing in patient's homes.

WILL THE DREAMPORT IMPROVE PATIENTS ACCESS TO CARE?

The DreamPort can improve access to full PSG testing for patients who cannot come to the lab. Nursing home or hospital patients can be tested more conveniently without the costs and discomfort of transport to a separate facility. Over the last few years much debate has gone on about the pros and cons of home sleep testing with a type III monitor compared to in lab testing, the DreamPort offers a new option that can offer the best of both.

WHAT LEVEL OF USER INPUT HAS GONE INTO THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DREAMPORT?

During the design and development of the DreamPort we coordinated comments from several users including the patients, the technologists and physician. We collected ideas early on during brainstorming sessions as we also did during clinical testing with various prototypes. The system had to be easy for the patient and technologist to use and for the physician there should be no difference between the data collected with DreamPort and an in lab sleep study. By automating much of the system we were able to provide a product that is easy for the patient and technologist and can provide high quality data.

View case studies at www.clevemed.com/dreamport.

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