The Safescan Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a non-contact sleep apnoea detector, suitable for home studies - The Safescan study
IRAS ID
247009
Contact name
Ian E Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea is a common condition in adults and children that causes disturbed sleep and daytime symptoms. It is characterised by interrupted breathing with awakenings. In adults this can lead to dangerous daytime sleepiness affecting for example driving performance. In children it may lead to hyperactivity in the day and poor school performance. There are a number of techniques for diagnosing the disorder but they can affect the quality of sleep which sometimes makes them inaccurate. Most are unsuitable for small children who cannot understand the value of the tests and tend to remove the monitoring wires and devices in the night. This study aims to validate a new non-contact device, based on radar technology, which can be put under a bed and record breathing patterns with no measuring device in contact with the sleeper. In this initial study the device will be validated in adults, against the gold standard of polysomnography in the sleep laboratory at Royal Papworth Hospital.
REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1848
Date of REC Opinion
8 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion