Multidiagnostic chest-worn patch to detect obstructive sleep apnea and cardiac arrhythmias.

Abstract

Study objectives: Evaluate the performance of the SANSA device to simultaneously assess obstructive sleep apnea and cardiac arrhythmias.

Methods: Participants suspected or known to have obstructive sleep apnea underwent polysomnography while wearing SANSA. SANSA's algorithm was trained using 86 records and tested on 67 to evaluate training bias. SANSA performance was evaluated against ground truth polysomnography scored by the consensus of 3 technologists. Polysomnography scoring from individual testing sites was also evaluated against consensus. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using standard apnea-hypopnea index cutoffs. Apnea-hypopnea index and total sleep time agreement was analyzed using correlation and Bland-Altman plots. Electrocardiogram was reviewed for presence of significant arrhythmias (frequent premature atrial/ventricular complexes and atrial fibrillation).

Results: SANSA's sensitivity and specificity to detect obstructive sleep apnea ranged from 91-97% and 78-97%, respectively, across all severity levels. SANSA total sleep time correlation with consensus polysomnography total sleep time was 0.83 with a mean difference of 3.8 minutes (limits of agreement: -91.1 to 98.7). Significant arrhythmias were detected in 32% of participants. These participants had a greater apnea-hypopnea index (27.5 vs 15.8 events/h, P = .003) and spent nearly twice as long at reduced oxygenation levels (47.5 vs 20.5 minutes under 88% oxygen saturation, P = .009).

Conclusions: SANSA is a promising tool for comprehensive obstructive sleep apnea evaluation, offering the unique advantage of concurrent arrhythmia detection. This dual functionality may improve patient outcomes through early diagnosis and management of both conditions.

Citation: Goldstein C, Ghanbari H, Sharma S, et al. Multidiagnostic chest-worn patch to detect obstructive sleep apnea and cardiac arrhythmias. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(5):855-866.