Visualizing Telemetry Metrics From Upper-Airway Stimulation to Enhance Sleep Therapy Management [conference paper]

Upper-Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy is an innovative alternative to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and CPAP intolerance. Patients who have implanted a UAS device are responsible for activating and managing the therapy at home before sleep. Consistent nightly use is required for a reduced OSA burden, measured by the apnea-hypopnea index. Thus, understanding patient behavior and possible challenges to nightly use are crucial to therapy success. In this work, we present two novel visualizations to monitor telemetry data recorded by the UAS sleep remote. They provide doctors and sleep clinicians with detailed information to easily classify therapy use and sleep patterns. We also present how to show daily metrics such as hours of average usage, therapy intensity, and duration of therapy pauses, to identify optimal therapy settings and measure the long-term effectiveness of interventions.