Rings

[Sleep2Dream]

1) Is there a good reason to supplement my sleep info (from my CPAP) with an O2 ring, like the one sold by SleepHQ?
2) Does anyone know how the Oura ring compares?

[ChicagoGranny]

Is there a good reason to supplement my sleep info (from my CPAP) with an O2 ring, like the one sold by SleepHQ?

If you don't have any lung or heart pathologies, a pulse oximeter will not add any information of value.

Concentrate on AHI, leak level, and sleep hygiene.

[Sleep2Dream]

Is there a good reason to supplement my sleep info (from my CPAP) with an O2 ring, like the one sold by SleepHQ?

If you don't have any lung or heart pathologies, a pulse oximeter will not add any information of value.

Concentrate on AHI, leak level, and sleep hygiene.

Thanks. That's what I was guessing. The guys over at SleepHQ are a bit enthusiastic about their gadgets.

[ChicagoGranny]

The guys over at SleepHQ are a bit enthusiastic about their gadgets.

Are they selling gadgets?

[Sleep2Dream]

The guys over at SleepHQ are a bit enthusiastic about their gadgets.

Are they selling gadgets?

"Magic Uploader" and "O2 Ring."

[pisco21]

Just had an appointment with my Sleep Doctor the other day. She had sent me to the Sleep Clinic for a study as both my Samsung Watch and my O2 Oximeter ring had identified that my SPO2 was dropping several times throughout the night. Given I had heart surgery last year, we were both concerned about the drops. My pulmonologist couldn't find anything in particular wrong with my lungs to explain it, hence the sleep study.

In reviewing the charts (both from OSCAR and SleepHQ) with the results of the study, we identified flow limitations that eventually lead to an event (RERA, hypopnea, apnea, CA, whatever...), that event would then cause the drop of SPO2 about a minute or so after that... But, through trying different masks and a soft cervical collar as well as a pressure increase seems to be controlling it to the point where AHI is less than 1, and the total time less than 92% saturation is just a few minutes over the course of the night. A big change from the upwards of 40 minutes previously...

In discussing the cause behind the flow limitations, in addition to the pressure increase, she noted that sometimes movement occurs during REM or light sleep, and that could be causing the flow limitations... right now, neither OSCAR nor SleepHQ will correlate the sleep information from Samsung or Apple, but if the root cause of the FL is based on sleep state, then we're one step closer to identifying how to improve my results.

None of this would have been identified without my watch and O2 ring. I would have remained happy thinking an AHI of 2 or 3 was good (after all, it's less than 5), but still spend up to 40 minutes or more with reduced O2 levels causing unknown issues with my heart and other organs. So, my opinion is that these things are not gadgets, but part of what we need to measure to optimize results. The main issue I have is that we're not moving fast enough to integrate and correlate information together; e.g. sleep state from smart watches, CPAP, oximeters, blood glucose levels, heartrate, movement, etc... It's happening, but it's happening slowly. OSCAR and SleepHQ are leading the charge, but both need funding to do the necessary work. Then, both need substantial funding in order to go through the certification process to make it FDA certified; many Doctors won't even listen to anything not FDA-certified. Fortunately, my Doctor is open-minded and reviews OSCAR and SleepHQ with me, even if she's concerned that it's not certified...

Anyway, my 2 cents... Technology is only a gadget if you don't need it. Health Technology is vital and will change our medical system in dramatic ways as we become more data-driven.

[ChicagoGranny]

In reviewing the charts (both from OSCAR and SleepHQ) with the results of the study, we identified flow limitations

A sleep doc reviewing OSCAR. Rare and smart!

[pisco21]

by ChicagoGranny » Sat Apr 29, 2023 2:58 pm
pisco21 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 9:58 am
In reviewing the charts (both from OSCAR and SleepHQ) with the results of the study, we identified flow limitations
A sleep doc reviewing OSCAR. Rare and smart!


Yes! Although you could tell it was an unnatural act for her, as I said she's open-minded enough to consider it! She's great, and is also part of the cardiovascular institute for Baptist Health, so it feels as though SA's link to other serious diseases is acknowledged.

[Janknitz]

Oura rungs and smart watches give you more information than a pulse oximeter. They can help you track the quality of your sleep. They track stages of sleep, time in sleep, arousals, movement, blood oxygen levels, pulse, respiration rate, heart rhythms, ambient noise. That said, whether they are accurate or not is another question. They are estimates based on complex algorithms. They certainly aren't medical grade devices to replace tests that are validated. And I personally found that my Apple Watch wasn't very good at measuring my blood oxygen levels at all (using a pulse oximeter) despite many claims about it's accuracy. It was showing very low SpO2's during sleep, but the pulse oximeter showed otherwise. It also samples blood oxygen levels at intervals, rather than consistently like a pulse oximeter would. I wouldn't rely on the numbers.

I would say that these devices can be useful to track trends and set goals (my husband loves quantifying his sleep and trying to reach goals for time asleep, time in deep sleep, for example, based on his FitBit watch). And certainly they might help identify when there is an issue like aFib or a situation like Pisco describes. If they identify an issue, I'd follow up with a doctor, but I wouldn't necessarily assume that nothing identified by these devices means everything is perfect.

[Sleep2Dream]

Oura rungs and smart watches give you more information than a pulse oximeter. They can help you track the quality of your sleep. They track stages of sleep, time in sleep, arousals, movement, blood oxygen levels, pulse, respiration rate, heart rhythms, ambient noise. That said, whether they are accurate or not is another question. They are estimates based on complex algorithms. They certainly aren't medical grade devices to replace tests that are validated. And I personally found that my Apple Watch wasn't very good at measuring my blood oxygen levels at all (using a pulse oximeter) despite many claims about it's accuracy. It was showing very low SpO2's during sleep, but the pulse oximeter showed otherwise. It also samples blood oxygen levels at intervals, rather than consistently like a pulse oximeter would. I wouldn't rely on the numbers.

I would say that these devices can be useful to track trends and set goals (my husband loves quantifying his sleep and trying to reach goals for time asleep, time in deep sleep, for example, based on his FitBit watch). And certainly they might help identify when there is an issue like aFib or a situation like Pisco describes. If they identify an issue, I'd follow up with a doctor, but I wouldn't necessarily assume that nothing identified by these devices means everything is perfect.

I haven't had much luck tracking sleep with my FitBit Sense. It seems like half the time it thinks I only slept for a few hours, totally missing half the night. Probably my CPAP and Oscar/SleepHQ provide all the real information I need. I'd love something to accurately track my sleep stages--just to satisfy my curiosity, not for any health reasons--but it seems the personal gadget technology just isn't there yet.