Israeli sleep apnea company Itamar Medical announced today it’s broadening the capabilities of its at-home sleep apnea diagnostic testing line, WatchPAT.

The WatchPAT system attaches to a user’s index finger, chest and wrist to record vital measurements that are used to identify events of sleep apnea. It measures peripheral arterial (PAT) signal, heart rate, oximetry, actigraphy, body position, snoring and chest motion.

The first of the new features is called WatchPAT with SleePath and allows users to document subjective data from their test directly in the connected app. It combines the sleep study metrics with patients’ self-reports to give physicians an all-in-one report of the test.

In addition to that, Itamar Medical is introducing WatchPAT ONE-M, an enhancement to its single-night disposable sleep apnea test. The new technology lets sleep physicians follow up with patients after the first night of testing to order multiple nights of examination if needed.

“As our WatchPAT technology becomes increasingly more predominant in sleep disorder diagnostics, we look forward to leveraging our growing customer base to transition our WatchPAT app into an active communication tool for patients and their physicians,” Gilad Glick, the president and CEO of Itamar Medical, said in a statement.

“The addition of WatchPAT ONE-M is expected to support a higher level of interaction between sleep physicians and their patients, as it provides an opportunity to leverage patient feedback in parallel with the sleep test, deliver one comprehensive report, and enable physicians to follow up with their patients more effectively.”

Itamar Medical plans to provide additional information on its product improvements at the Virtual SLEEP 2021 Conference, a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, on June 11.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Sleep apnea is a condition where people have abnormal breathing while they sleep, causing multiple extended pauses in breath. It is associated with numerous comorbidities, including hypertension, obesity, depression, acid reflux, diabetes and asthma, according to the International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology.

Although The Lancet Respiratory Medicine estimates that 936 million adults aged 30 to 69 have mild to severe sleep apnea and 425 million have moderate to severe sleep apnea globally, up to 90% go undiagnosed, according to Sleep Medicine.

“These product enhancements reflect our commitment to continuous improvement of the sleep patient pathway by leveraging Itamar’s digital health platform to deliver increased home sleep testing efficiency, broader information access beyond the Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) and improving the quality of sleep clinics’ operations around home sleep diagnostics,” Glick said.

THE LARGER TREND

The FDA cleared the WatchPAT ONE system in 2019. One year before that, Itamar launched its SleePath management tool to track sleep apnea in patients with atrial fibrillation.

More recently, the company acquired Spry Health earlier this year with sights set on adapting its products with continuous monitoring capabilities.

Itamar Medical is not alone in addressing sleep apnea, however. This February, Signifier Medical Technologies got FDA De Novo clearance for its first-of-a-kind daytime sleep apnea treatment called eXciteOSA.

Last year, ResApp launched an at-home sleep apnea screening app. That same year, Withings released an under the mattress sleep tracking mat that can be used to detect sleep apnea.

Royal Philips has also joined the space, with its 2019 release of NightBalance, a soft device that is worn across the user’s chest when they go to sleep and signals when they should change sleeping positions.

ResMed, a well-known company in the sleep space, teamed up with Verily in 2018 to start a joint venture focused on sleep apnea.