A sleep study - otherwise known as polysomnography study - is a rather complex non-invasive procedure which is usually performed overnight in a specially designed sleep clinic, like MediSleep.

The purpose of the study is to collect information about various physiological parameters which are related to sleep in order to diagnose sleep problems. For example, we record information about brain activity, heart activity, respiratory activity and even oxygen concentration in the blood.

In order to collect this comprehensive information, several leads are connected to various parts of the body such as scalp, chest, legs, and these leads pass information through a computer "headbox" to the monitoring computer which is located in the monitoring station which is staffed by sleep physiologists.

Additionally, sleep is recorded using an infrared videocamera located in the room.

The information from the leads and from the camera is then collated for diagnostic purposes.

The sleep study is completely non-invasive.

Sometimes it may be necessary to conduct several studies in order to get most information to help diagnose and treat the underlying sleep condition.

"I had the study and the CPAP fitted. If anyone had told me previously what a difference it can make I would not have believed them."
S. B.