Sleep apnea diagnosis in children using software-generated apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) derived from data recorded with a single photoplethysmogram sensor (PPG)

ObjectiveSleep quality is vital for healthy development in children. Sleep disorders are prevalent and negatively affect sleep quality. Early identification and appropriate intervention can improve children’s health and quality of life. The current reference standard, polysomnography (PSG) has limitations regarding availability, cost, and access and may not replicate normal sleep patterns in the home. Simple, accurate sleep tests, available for repeated testing should be beneficial in management of sleep disorders.MethodSecondary analysis of PSG data from the prospective multicenter Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial (CHAT) to evaluate FDA-cleared cloud-based software (Software-as-a-Medical-Device), which is based on analysis of photoplethysmogram data (PPG; plethysmogram-signal (PLETH) and oxygen saturation data (SpO2)), to automatically generate a novel apnea-hypopnea index (sAHI). sAHI is compared to manually scored AHI from PSG.ResultsSignificant correlation is observed comparing the software-generated sAHI and manually derived AHI from the in-laboratory PSG-studies (Pearson correlation = 0.954, p