Fox 5 San Diego interviews Dr. Tom Schwieterman of Midmark on sleep apnea and the smallest, lightest home testing device in the market.
The FDA-cleared, physician-prescribed SleepView® provides a convenient and cost-effective alternative for diagnosing the most common type of breathing-related sleep disorder
Cleveland, OH - October 17, 2011 - Midmark Corporation, a trusted leader in digital diagnostic devices for ambulatory care, announced a partnership with Cleveland Medical Devices, a leader in sleep diagnostics technology, launching the Midmark SleepView® Monitor and SleepViewSM Portal.
The Midmark SleepView Monitor developed by Cleveland Medical Devices is the market’s smallest and lightest portable home sleep monitor that meets the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s recommended channel set for Type III monitors.
The Midmark SleepView Portal offers prescribing physicians secure, HIPAA compliant online access to registered polysomnographic technologists and board-certified sleep physicians who provide scoring, professional interpretation and treatment recommendations.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a repeated interruption of normal breathing during sleep due to a collapse of the upper airway. It is estimated to impact as many people as asthma and diabetes; yet, 85 percent of the population with the disease is undiagnosed and untreated. "There is a real need in the healthcare industry to address this large and growing clinical concern," said Tom Treon, senior product manager for Midmark. "We want to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of care for patients with OSA by providing another diagnostic option, which enables patients to be tested in the comfort of their own bed and convenience of their own home for a more natural night of sleep."
OSA does in fact hold serious health and economic consequences. Numerous studies link OSA to major chronic diseases such as stroke, heart failure, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and increased odds of serious car crash injuries. Economic studies have also shown that people with untreated OSA have 200 percent higher healthcare costs than similar people without OSA.
Midmark has entered into a strategic partnership with Cleveland Medical Devices Inc. (CleveMed) for licensing of the SleepView technology. Established in 1990, CleveMed is a leader in sleep diagnostics technology with products serving sleep labs, institutional and home settings.
Dr. Anne Eiting Klamar, President and CEO of Midmark stated, "We are very pleased to partner with CleveMed, a company that provides proven expertise in sleep disorders research and diagnostics. SleepView offers both an exciting addition to our diagnostic device portfolio and sophisticated, yet easy-to use services for our customers with the goal of providing efficient and effective patient care."
"We are very excited about our relationship with Midmark to extend sleep healthcare to patients in need", said Hani Kayyali, president of CleveMed. "Midmark is a strong and trusted brand with outstanding relationships among distribution and physicians. They offer our technology unique advantage to realizing the goal of providing patients, providers and payers with a convenient, cost-effective and high-quality solution to identifying OSA so it can be managed effectively."
For more information, please visit www.midmarksleepview.com, call 1-800-MIDMARK or contact your authorized Midmark distributor representative.
About CleveMed
SleepView is a registered trademark of and manufactured by Cleveland Medical Devices Inc. of Cleveland, OH. CleveMed develops innovative biomedical devices, and is a leader in miniaturized wireless telemetry and physiological monitoring devices. CleveMed has developed a growing range of products that address the needs of those with sleep disorders, including the Crystal Monitor PSG series, Sapphire, SleepScout, iPSG and DreamPort. CleveMed’s wireless sleep products allow sleep studies to be conducted remotely, and monitor a wide range of sleep disorder symptoms, while eliminating the need for typically bulky sleep diagnostic equipment. For more information, please visit www.CleveMed.com (Follow us on CleveMed Blogs, twitter, youtube, LinkedIn, and facebook)
About Midmark Medical
Dedicated to helping healthcare providers deliver the most efficient patient care, Midmark is redefining the future of the clinical space from the examination room to the procedure room, providing clinical solutions to redefine workflow. Its line of Midmark and Ritter Barrier-Free® examination and procedures tables, diagnostic products, sterilizers, lighting, seating and casework have become the industry standards in medical practices of all sizes, helping improve the patient experience while improving safety, ergonomics, productivity and profitability. Midmark’s IQ Digital Diagnostics System, a combination of digital diagnostic devices and software solutions, allow fast and easy capture, interpretation and retrieval of patient information for single practitioners to large physician groups integrating EHR/EMRs. In addition, Midmark’s partnership with Mortara Instrument, Inc. provides a comprehensive range of ECG solutions for the U.S. and Canada ambulatory care markets. Its Care Exchange™ Workstations help physicians’ offices easily integrate IT with digital diagnostics and electronic prescriptions. For more information, visit midmarkclinicalsolutions.com or midmark.com.
For More Information Contact:
Amy Rickard
Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.
P: 216.791.6720
arickard@clevemed.com
www.clevemed.com
The diagnosis and treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is undergoing a paradigm shift particularly regarding home sleep testing (HST). Supported by many organizations like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)1 and many insurance companies, home sleep assessment is witnessing great adoption by practitioners and patients alike as it can facilitate easier access to specialized care and improve patient quality of life.
There are a number of portable monitors that can be used in HST (as a baseline evaluation, or to evaluate the efficacy of OSA treatment whether it is OA, CPAP, or others). It is important that a facility select the right HST monitor from all the available options. Hence some of the important criteria to watch for while selecting a portable sleep monitor for your practice are:
Per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) clinical guidelines, the proper OSA evaluation requires portable monitoring that records at least:
Other parameters that are strongly recommended are snore, temperature-based airflow (thermistor) for apnea confirmation and body position for positional apnea estimation. Some devices also record muscle activity (EMG channel), which could be of particular help to dentists during OA titration since it can evaluate bruxism.
Clearly, a system that is small, light and allows for easy self-administration of the sleep test in the home is preferred, as it avoids a sleep technologist from having to go to the patient’s house, saving time and money. Typically hook-up of sensors in HST will require: Wrapping a RIP belt around the chest, placing and securing a pulse ox on the patient’s index finger, and wearing a nasal cannula. This is only minimally invasive and painless. Sometimes a thermistor may be used along with the nasal cannula to confirm apneas.
Ease of use and data quality are doubly assured if the portable sleep monitor is designed with checks in place to indicate proper placement of the sensors (some monitors have light and others have sound indicators). Additionally, a monitor that includes an automatic check for validity of prior night sleep data would be particularly helpful as it can afford a fast way to repeat the study if needed (maybe due to a disconnected sensor). Selecting a monitor with a pre-programmed ON/OFF time can ensure proper data recording even if the patient forgets to hit the start button.
In summary, choosing the right portable sleep monitor that offers ease of use for the patient, and appropriate physiological data for the physician’s facility, while using sleep lab methodology, is the first step in deploying Home Sleep Testing the right way.