一種設計用來幫助分析睡眠相關呼吸紊亂的腕帶式設備，現在擴大了其用途。美國食品藥品管理局已經批準這種設備做為檢查快速動眼運動睡眠時相的診斷輔助工具。

在這項批準之前，檢查REM睡眠時相的唯一途徑是在實驗室內整夜多導睡眠描計研究。使用Watch-PAT(外周動脈張力測定法），研究人員發現這套設備能夠預測REM睡眠，接近實驗室睡眠評估的金標準。Watch-PAT提供了低成本選擇，擴大了在家庭或者醫院內的診斷檢測能力。

REM檢查是評估睡眠紊亂的關鍵部分，但是很難進行檢查，如果不使用腦電圖、心電圖、眼動電圖的電極粘貼在患者頭部和胸部。

Brigham和婦女醫院（波士頓，美國）的睡眠疾病項目主任、哈佛大學醫學院睡眠醫學教授David P.White醫生說：“REM睡眠檢查對于診斷睡眠紊亂十分重要，是評估睡眠質量和患者對睡眠呼吸暫停治療反應的關鍵因素。”

Watch-PAT是由Technion以色列技術學院(Haifa, Israel)研究人員研制成功的，在哈佛醫學院附屬睡眠中心以及其它中心進行了檢測。Watch-PAT以及其它PAT產品已經由Itamar醫學有限公司(Caesarea, Israel)推向了市場。
 
Device Monitors REM Sleep

A wrist-worn device designed to aid the analysis of sleep-related breathing disorders now has expanded indications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the device as a diagnostic aid for the detection of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep stages.

Before this approval, the only way to detect REM-sleep stages was with an in-lab overnight polysomnographic study. Using Watch-PAT (peripheral arterial tonometry), researchers showed that the device was predictive of REM sleep and was close to the gold standard in sleep lab evaluation. Watch-PAT offers a lower-cost option that can expand the availability of diagnostic testing at home or in the hospital.

REM detection is a critical component of the evaluation of sleep disorders, but has been difficult to measure without the use of an electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and electrooculogram (EOG) electrodes attached to the patient’s head and chest.

“REM sleep detection is important for proper sleep disorder diagnosis and a critical factor in the evaluation of sleep quality and patient responses to the treatment of sleep apnea,” stated David P. White, M.D., professor of sleep medicine at Harvard University School of Medicine and director, sleep disorders program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, USA).

Watch-PAT was developed by researchers at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa, Israel), and was studied at sleep centers affiliated with Harvard Medical School and other centers. The Watch-PAT and other PAT products are being marketed by Itamar Medical Ltd. (Caesarea, Israel).