Sleep Studies to Diagnose Sleep Apnea, Narcolepsy and Other Sleep Disorders

If you have problems sleeping or staying awake or snore heavily, your physician may recommend a sleep study, such as a polysomnogram, multiple sleep latency tests or multiple wake tests.
   
These noninvasive tests monitor what happens to your body during sleep. They can help diagnose problems such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, restless legs syndrome and parasomnias. If needed, your physician may prescribe therapies, such as medications, oxygen or a device called a continuous positive airway pressure (C-PAP) machine during the test.

This polysomnogram information sheet will help you prepare for the tests and tell you what to expect.  

Registered Sleep Technologists and Board Certified Sleep Physicians

Our sleep studies are performed by registered polysomnographic technologists and interpreted by board certified sleep medicine physicians. Located in Augusta, Ga., Georgia Regents Sleep Center performs and interprets:

• Polysomnographic Studies
  These tests are used to diagnose sleep apnea, narcolepsy and other conditions. Patients spend a full night at the center. While they sleep, painless electrodes attached to their bodies monitor:
  • brain activity
  • eye movement
  • oxygen and carbon dioxide blood levels
  • heart rate and rhythm
  • breathing rate and rhythm  
  • the flow of air through the mouth and nose 
  • body muscle movements
  • chest and abdomen respiratory movements

Registered sleep technologists monitor each patient during the tests, and an intercom system allows for easy communication between patients and caregivers.  Patients are also videotaped with infrared cameras, while microphones monitor their snoring. A board certified sleep medicine physician reviews the data collected during the tests to diagnose any disorder and its severity and prescribe treatments, if needed. 

• Multiple Sleep Latency Tests 
  These tests measure how long it takes you to fall asleep. You will need to stay at the sleep lab overnight for polysomnographic studies and the next day for this test. During this test, you’ll take 15-minute naps every two hours, beginning the morning after your nighttime sleep test. Between naps you must try to stay awake. A sleep technologist will note the amount of time it takes for you to fall asleep and your sleep patterns during the naps. A board certified sleep medicine physician will use the results to rule out or make a diagnosis of narcolepsy.   
• Multiple Wake Tests 
  These tests measure your ability to stay awake during a time when you normally would not sleep. You will need to stay at the sleep center overnight and the next day. You will try to stay awake without napping during the day.  A board certified sleep medicine physician will use the results to rule out or make a diagnosis narcolepsy. 
• C-PAP Titration Tests
  If you suffer from sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep; your treatment may include a medical device known as a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or C-PAP. The machine holds the air passages in the nose and throat open during sleep, eliminating snoring and pauses in breathing. The C-PAP Titration test is an overnight test that helps us find the most effective setting for your machine, make sure you have the right mask and customize other parameters so you can experience the best possible results.