Sleep Technology

This is part two in a six-part series on the evolution of the sleep technologist role. AAST has engaged professionals from across allied healthcare to address, from their perspective, the value of collaborating more closely with sleep technologists and/or incorporating the discipline into their area of health. Check out part one here. As a clinical dentist, I have been intimately familiar with the issue of airway patency for almost 40 years.  It was during my dental school days back in the late 1970’s that I was introduced to the concept of “form follows function” as it pertains to facial growth in children and adolescents.

As a new year dawns, fresh technologies are on the rise. In the field of sleep technology, you will find that there are a few technologies that are going to have banner years in 2018. These are some you’ll want to have your finger on the pulse of in your career as a sleep technologist.

Dance marathons captivated popular attention in the United States from the 1920s to the 1950s. These events were examples of competitive sleep deprivation. Contestants, who remained in nearly continuous motion for hundreds or even thousands of hours on the dance floor by forcibly delaying sleep onset, exhibited symptoms of behaviorally induced insufficient sleep syndrome (ISS). Reporters from local dailies who followed these contestants documented irresistible sleep attacks, physical exhaustion and episodes of delusional ideation due to severely restricted rest breaks.

I was fortunate enough to attend The World Sleep Congress, which took place October 7-11 in Prague, Czech Republic. As a joint Congress of the World Association of Sleep Medicine and World Sleep Federation, this conference delivered hundreds of lectures and poster abstracts that are important to the future of sleep technology and attracted thousands of clinicians.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is clinically defined as an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology caused by an external force. TBI may result from motor vehicle accidents, falling objects, assault, bomb blasts, etc. TBI is a leading cause of death and can cause lifelong disabilities in survivors. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.6 to 3.2 million TBI’s are reported in the United States. Following the initial injury, patients may complain of headaches, nausea or vomiting, memory loss, mood changes, and difficulty with attention or concentration.

Can the emergence of a brand-new sleep disorder be a beautiful thing? In many ways, it can be inspiring, labor intensive, full of future possibilities … and usually quite messy!

Fall Course Speaker Preview: Dr. Earl O Bergersen

As a sleep technologist, you invariably have the topic of CPAP on your mind. And it can grow increasingly difficult to separate the facts from fiction, as new developments take place.

There once was a time a sleep study could be scheduled without consideration of the insurance carrier.  Patients could be scheduled that night or the next day. Times have really changed as we have moved into an age of pre-authorizations and longer wait times for patients to have an overnight sleep study. 

What is the role of digital apps in monitoring positive airway pressure adherence? Find out in Louisville, Ky., October 13-14, as the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) and KYSS (Kentucky Sleep Society) present the Fall Course: Current Technology Trends in Sleep Medicine.