What is a sleep study?

• It Is an investigation where we study how the child breathes during sleep.
• Many a times the child has problems during sleeping which are not recognized and can have significant impact on the health of the child.
• For more information on this read the section on Sleep Disordered Breathing in children.

How is a sleep study done?

• We would usually ask you to come and stay in our sleep lab in the hospital overnight.
• Around the usual bed time of the child our technicians would stick up the sensors on the baby.
• Just sleep and go back the next morning! Its all done.
• We shall get back to you with the results.

What sensors are usually put on a child?

Our sleep technichians would would set up a study for your child. It would take around 15-20 minutes to set up a Cardiorespiratory Study but might take upto an hour or longer to set up a full Polysomnography study. The set-up procedure is done while the child is awake and is painless. It would be done as soon as you arrive in the sleep unit which is situated on the third floor of our hospital. In case some children are non-coopertaive then we would set up after the child has fallen asleep.
Most kids would get a Carddiorespiratory Sleep Study. This would involve the following monitoring channels as shown in the figure:

• Stretchy Bands on the chest and tummy (thoracic/abdominal bands) to look at breathing.
• ECG electrodes for measuring Cardiac rhythm Sensor measuring oxygen levels (SpO2)
• Sensor for measuring Carbon Dioxide (Co2) i.e waste gas from body (End Tidal Co2) Nasal cannula to measure the flow of gases from the nose.
• Continous Video and Audio recording would be done with a camera and a mike.

Some kids would get a Full Polysomnography Study. This would involve some additional monitoring channels to have a better understanding of the child’s sleep staging and brain activity as shown in the figure. These channels are:

• EEG: some sensors and wires over the head to measure brain activity.
• EOG: two sensors near the eyes
• Chin EMG: three sensors on the chin
• During the application of these wires, the head would be measured and then marked. These spots are cleaned; EEG wires are attached with a special paste, and a light mesh cap is placed over the wires so that they would not pop off during sleep. Don’t worry if anythings comes off. Our Senior Sleep Trained staff would would supervise the study throughout the night.

Does it involve any injections or medicines?

• No. It does not involve any injections or medicines.

How is the sleep Lab at BLK Super Specialty Hospital?

• AT BLK Super Specialty Hospital we have established a state-of-art sleep lab for children. We are proud to have started the first paediatric sleep lab in Northern India.
• We currently are using the latest version EMBLA 7000 system with a full recording of the sleep study.
• We can perform oximetry, CardioRespiratory and full Polysomnography study. Both Diagnostic and Non-Invasive Titration studies are be done at our centre.
• Children are not small adults and it is inappropriate to evaluate children in adult sleep labs, which is the usual case.

Important Sleep Study Information

• It is important to arrive for the sleep study on time in order that your child has time to settle in to the unit before bedtime.
• We allow one parent to accompany the child and sleep along. We shall not be able to accomodate both parents or siblings. Your cooperation is solicited.

What you need to bring:

• Usual night clothes like night suits, pyjamas, T-shirts etc.
• Any comforters like soft toys, I pads, muscic players etc
• Nappies, milf formulae, bottles, teats, etc
• Any meals required for the child or yourself
• Any equipment used like CPAP or BiPAP/VPAP etc